
Class 
Book. 



- -ii '7 ■ U. 



Copyright N^. 



COPyRIGHT DEPOSnV 



M i!. M U i R y OF 

1 H E CO ' '^ ' OF BERLIN 

A N 1) . , ' '^ S B U R G 

\BEAU 

[Uii'iore CuLrkL Ru^urii) 

With a Spec> 
aoA ajo eiH vri 'ijaaMiH dva^uup. 



P F CO SON 



FREDERICK THE GREAT 
AMUSING HIMSELF IN HIS OLD AGE 

From the painting by J. L. Gerome 



MEMOIRS OF 

THE COURTS OF BERLIN 

AND ST PETERSBURG 

BY COUNT OF MIRABEAU 
{Honore Gabriel Riqueti) 



With a Special Introduction 
and Illustrations 




N EW YORK 

P F COLLIER & SON 

PUBLISHERS 



Copyright igio 
ByP. F. Collier & Son 



^ 



*.^'^ 



X\v^ 



(g:CI.A305503 

NO. I 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Introduction xi 

Letter I. Recommends the Abbe de Perigord, afterward 

Prince de Talleyrand 15 

Letter 11. Last illness of Frederick the Great .... 17 

Letter IIL The Duke of Brunswick, his public and private 

character 19 

Letter IV. Prospects in the event of the King's death . . 27 

Letter V. Talk of an alliance between France, England, and 
Prussia. The King dropsical, but will not give up his 
favorite eel pies 38 

Letter VI. The author receives a snub and prepares to 

dissemble 41 

Letter VII. Court gossip; Frederick devotes more time to 

pine-apples than politics 43 

Letter VIII. Thinks the King cannot survive longer than two 

months. The Heir Apparent and Mademoiselle Voss 46 

Letter IX. Rumor that the King of Sweden has turned 

Catholic ; Russian intrigues 47 

Letter X. The King very unwilling to die ; resents the men- 
tion of dropsy 49 

Letter XI. Erysipelas and gangrene set in 50 

Letter XII. His dangerously voracious appetite .... 51 
Letter XIII. Uncertainties as to the policy of the King-to- 
be; doubtful if he has system, understanding, or char- 
acter. The old King eats of ten or twelve highly 

seasoned dishes at dinner every day 51 

Letter XIV. Death of Frederick the Great; ate a lobster a 
few hours before the end; the author's efforts to fore- 
stall the French Ambassador in sending the news by 

pigeon express 56 

1 — Memoirs Vol. 5 



4 CONTENTS 



PAGE 



Letter XV. The new King leans toward the French as 

against the English system 6i 

Letter XVL Prince Henry affirms that the King is entirely 
French ; the will of Frederick the Great ; his affection 
for his dogs; the new Ministry 64 

Letter XVII. Character sketch of Prince Henry ; the author 

as diplomatist 68 

Letter XVIII. The King reforms his habits, does not look 

at Mademoiselle Voss; is somewhat penurious . . "^2 

Letter XIX. His favorites; Goltz the Tartar, Boulet the 

honest, Goertz the able 75 

tETTERXX. Remonstrance with the Due de ; Prince 

Henry stranded on the rock of vanity ; a strong plea for 
friendly approaches to the King by the French govern- 
ment 78 

Letter XXI. The "gallomania" of Prince Henry is preju- 
dicing the cause of France ; the Duke of Brunswick the 
coming strong man; troubles over Holland; the King 
ennobles his son by Madame Rietz 81 

Letter XXII. The Duke plays with Prince Henry; a Grand 

Duchess Delilah ; manoeuvering for Russia's friendship 90 

Letter XXIII. Interment of Frederick the Great; neither in 

taste nor splendor equal to state funerals in Paris . 97 

Letter XXIV. Plea for more active and shrewd diplomacy 

by France 100 

Letter XXV. A weak ruler and intriguing counselors . . 102 

Letter XXVI. Stuterheim and Gudschmidt, prudent Minis- 
ters; qualifications for successful diplomatists; sketch 
of the Elector of Bavaria 104 

Letter XXVII. Dufour, exjourneyman barber, his influence 
over the Heir Apparent; objections to an Austro- 
Prussian alliance 109 

Letter XXVIII. Frederick the Great, his long defiance of a 

disease which would have killed ten men . . . .114 



CONTENTS 5 



PAGE 



Letter XXIX. Russia's project to steal a march on India; 

possible alliance between France and England . . .116 

Letter XXX. Social blunder of a clumsy Princess; card- 
table precedence; the gay Madame de Vibraye . .119 

Letter XXXI. Homage to the new King; mischief-making 
amateur diplomatists; brawls and jealousy from 
Madame Rietz 129 

Letter XXXII. King Frederick William's violent temper; 

plays the violoncello; an out-and-out German . . .135 

Letter XXXIII. An undesirable representative; Austria 

strong but weakly governed 141 

Letter XXXIV. The author's laborious efforts to collect 
trustworthy information; reported accident to the 
King; growing power of the Duke 144 

Letter XXXV. Concerning Holland, Austria, and Russia; 
the Duke of York, a character sketch; English in- 
solence 150 

Letter XXXVI. The case of the unfortunate Lieut. Col. 

Szekely; sentenced and pardoned 158 

Letter XXXVII. The Duke hopes France will act to prevent 

war by Holland ; significant conversation with the Duke 166 

Letter XXXVIII. The Duke meditates the building of a 

German empire ; the King hastens to Mademoiselle Voss 174 

Letter XXXIX. Secret orgies of the King; does not hate 
the French, does not love any nation; triumph of the 
Lady Voss 179 

Letter XL. Downfall of Count Herzberg; Launay, finance 
minister, retires ; possibility of the Duke going over to 
the Emperor . 185 

Letter XLI. On French finance and the commercial treaty 

with England 190 

Letter XLII. Quarrels in the royal household; Madame 
Rietz and Mademoiselle Voss; the Empress of Russia 
said to drink too much champagne 195 



6 CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Letter XLIII. Empress Catherine II. a model of sobriety; 

secret suppers in the King's palace 199 

Letter XLIV. The King rises early; his Court an Augean 
stable without a Hercules; Prussian power rotten 
before ripe 205 

Letter XLV. Honors to the son of a cookmaid ; Anhalt 
threatens to go over to the Emperor; the baboon-like 
Voss 210 

Letter XLVI. Mirabeau's aspect terrifies the court ; is crip- 
pled pecuniarily; hopes for the Anglo-French alliance 217 

Letter XLVIL A scheming woman uses the author to aid 
her siege of the King; suspects her as the go-between 
of Mademoiselle Voss ; the shade of Caesar at a supper 221 

Letter XLVIII. The King faithful to his old friends; sol- 
diers' coats that shrank skin-tight; army aristocrats 
and morals ; the King withdraws a threatened tax . . 225 

Letter XLIX. Fear of a coalition between Austria and 
Prussia; the King's debts; the questionable Madame 
de F 233 

Letter L. Discontent of the army; the tobacco monopoly; 

free speech in peril ; the divorced consort of the King 238 

Letter LI. Industry and commerce in Prussia ; urges the 
natural force of reciprocity between France and Eng- 
land ; indolence of the King ; a plea for La Grange . , 246 

Letter LII. A mysterious messenger; Baron Nolde, a friend 
of France; a left-handed marriage for Mademoiselle 
Voss; the King's four sorts of children; rascally 
courtiers 254 

Letter LIII. The King and his ministers, meddling and 
muddling; the mystics in favor; manuscripts of Fred- 
erick the Great 265 

Letter LIV. Character of the King, deceitful, vain, avari- 
cious ; the leading courtiers libertines, shallow flatterers, 
and adventurers 272 



CONTENTS 7 

PAGE 

Letter LV. The Queen bribed to consent to the King's 
marriage with Mademoiselle Voss; prodigal yet not 
generous; building at Potsdam 280 

Letter LVI. Sketch of the King's officers; new taxes 
imposed, the King orders his subjects to be numbered; 
the ladies Rietz and Voss and the screen scene . . 284 

Letter LVIL The cup of Circe filled with beer; the magic of 

a yellow riband ; court snarls ; troubles in the silk trade 290 

Letter LVIIL Madame Rietz asks for an estate; Corporal 
Schlag; Prince Henry discouraged; the kingdom 
neglected because the King is in love 296 

Letter LIX. The peculiarities of Count Nostitz; Madame 
Rietz wants a Margraviate; gambling forbidden; the 
land question 301 

Letter LX. The Queen blind to her husband's amours ; the 
Prince Royal an echo of Frederick the Great ; unfair 
treatment of Launay ; pays a debt incurred by Frederick 
the Great when Prince 306 

Letter LXI. Miscellaneous distribution of honors; the 
questionable marriage deferred; memorial against the 
capitation tax 311 

Letter LXIL The Dutch envoy makes overtures to Mira- 
beau; delicate position of affairs between France, 
Prussia, and Holland; hopeless confusion around the 
King 320 

Letter LXin. Affairs in Russia; more gossip about the 
suspended marriage; difficulty of suppressing lotto; 
Launay departs incognito 332 

Letter LXIV. Gambling with Poland; Frederick the Great 
negotiates a loan by the gift of a smoked salmon; 
Voltaire expected a famous diamond and got a keg of 
wine; Mirabeau demands adequate recognition of his 
services . 337 

Letter LXV. A Sans Souci house for Mademoiselle Voss; 
prospects of her growing power; smuggling the King 
into heaven under the bishop's coat tail . . « . . 346 



8 CONTENTS 



PAGE 



Letter LXVI. Mirabeau's final letter; endowing Mademoi- 
selle Voss; new taxes on cards, wines, oysters, etc.; 
the outlook 354 

Appendix. Memorial presented to Frederick William II., 
King of Prussia, on the Day of his Accession to the 
Throne, by Comte de Mirabeau. 

This was published as the author's reply to the 
accusation of having "presented the reigning King of 
Prussia with a libel against the immortal Frederick 
II.'* 357-398 



INTRODUCTION 

A TWOFOLD interest centres in this voiume of secret 
history written by the Comte de Mirabeau, — the inter- 
est attaching to its remarkable author no less than to 
the work itself. 

"Mirabeau!" exclaims Victor Hugo. "It is not a 
man, not a nation, but an event which speaks — an im- 
mense event — the fall of the Monarchy of France. 
His entry into public life was a veritable event. It 
was Revolution which accompanied him on the stage." 

Widely famed as author, statesman, orator, letter- 
writer and roue; in turn the favourite and sport of 
fortune ; buried by the French nation and mourned by 
all Paris as one of her illustrious dead, and two years 
later his body taken from its honoured place in the 
Pantheon and flung into a common grave, to make 
room for Marat, — this surely was no common man! 

His life is a record more enthralling than fiction. 
He has inspired playwright and novelist. From birth 
to death all may read him as an open letter, in which 
we have preserved the turbulent gamut of passion and 
ambition through which he ran. He was the product 
of Revolution, that Revolution which saw Louis 
Capet and his queen bow their proud heads to the will 
of a frenzied people. 

Honore Gabriel Riqueti, Comte de Mirabeau, was 
born at Bignon, near Nemours, France, in 1749. His 
father was a well-known writer on political economy, 
and the son inherited a natural talent for politics, and 

9 



!lo INTRODUCTION 

a natural genius for oratory. He was, however, the 
ugly duckling of the family, being a wild dissipated 
youth of unpleasing exterior. His father endeavoured 
to correct the faults of character by severe discipline, 
and finally caused the young man to be imprisoned. 
But upon each release Honore plunged into new ex- 
cesses. He was especially noted for a succession of 
scandalous amours, despite his ugliness of feature. 
"Never was there child more ugly In face and 
feature," says one biographer; "nor more passionate 
and uncontrollable. Nature seemed to have played a 
prank on the world in producing him. He defied law, 
morals, authority; and because of defiance was sent 
by his father to the dungeons of Castles If, and Joux, 
and Vincennes, in hopes of his death by sickness, or 
starvation, or despair, or suicide. Yet from each he 
managed to get release, and ever through grosser 
immoralities as would now be said; through intrigue, 
and friendship, and the collusion of of^cials, as was 
said then." With escape came fresh problems — flight 
into Switzerland, or England, or Holland. And the 
worst of it was that he was not always alone. Per- 
haps it was the young wife of an old marquis whom 
he persuaded to accompany him — the "Sophie" to 
whom he dedicated a volume of passionate epistles; 
again it may have been the wife of an army of^cer, 
or only some poor misguided girl who followed him 
despite his ugliness and the poverty which dogged his 
footsteps. , 

To support himself in this precarious roving life he 
turned to writing. He issued pamphlets, on the 
"Order of Cincinnatus," the "Bank of Spain," the 
"Bank of Discount," the "Water Company of Paris," 
and many more. Those attacking the rotten system 
of French finance had the merit of being true and 
were instrumental in bringing about needed reform, 



INTRODUCTION Hi 

but they also caused yet another flight on the part 
of the author to prevent arrest. 

At the age of thirty-one he had sowed most of his 
wild oats and was done with prison Hfe. He now 
set himself earnestly in the current of political life, 
and endeavoured to curry favor with the authorities, 
in hope of being given some prominent post. He 
found, however, that he had created a following for 
himself more powerful than officialdom. His pam- 
phlets on finance had been widely read. During his 
imprisonment he had restlessly written an essay on 
"Despotism" and a daring booklet entitled "Lettres- 
de-Cachet." These attacks upon the monarchy were 
quickly suppressed. But the times were ripe for them 
and they passed from hand to hand and mouth to 
mouth. The spirit of Revolution was beginning to 
assert itself, and the new party was looking upon 
Mirabeau as one of its chosen leaders. 

To escape a clash with the ruling powers he went 
to England in 1784, where his brilliance in writing 
and speaking won him friends, and also gave him 
entrance into literary and political clubs where he 
gained many ideas. Upon his return to France he 
made his peace with the Minister, M. de Vergennes, 
who evidently saw use for Mirabeau's peculiar talents 
abroad rather than at home, for he was sent in 1786 
upon a secret mission to Prussia, with the aim of re- 
porting to the Ministry the effect which would be 
produced in Prussia by the expected death of Fred- 
erick the Great ; and also to sound the inclinations and 
temper of Frederick's successor. 

With his usual "push," Mirabeau made his way 
into the good graces of the aged king, was present at 
his death, and at the inauguration of Frederick Wil- 
liam II. With characteristic boldness he wrote a 
memorial to the new ruler giving him some advice 



112 INTRODUCTION 

upon conduct and reform — a pamphlet of some 84 
closely written pages from a past master in the sub- 
ject! Whether the recipient profited by all this gra- 
tuitous advice, history does not say. But Frederick 
William had no particular love for Mirabeau, who 
remained at the Court for only a few months (until 
January, 1787). 

It was during this time that he wrote to M. de 
Calonne the remarkable series of letters now known to 
English readers as "Memoirs of the Courts of Berlin 
and St. Petersburg." They sum up with much accuracy 
the personal traits of the dying Frederick the Great, 
and the character of his successor, Frederick William 
II. Included in them also are many personal details 
of the inner life of Catherine II. of Russia, whose 
career, he intimates, is tarnished with the breath of 
scandal. The whole series of 66 letters, in fact, is 
written in a satirical vein and with the outspoken 
brusqueness and lack of sympathy for which the writer 
was always noted. Hence it created an uproar when, 
in 1789, it was published under the title of "Histoire 
secrete de Cour de Berlin, ou correspondance d'un 
voyageur frangais depuis le mois Juillet, 1786, jusqu'a 
19 Janvier, 1787" ("Secret History of the Court of 
Berlin, or letters of a French traveller, from July, 
1786, to January 19, 1787"). 

The work, while giving an excellent insight into the 
methods of foreign courts, useful views, and highly 
interesting observations, created such a scandal at the 
time, that parliament was forced to order it burned 
by the hand of the public executioner. The king's 
advocate in a speech against the book, February 10, 
1789 (still preserved in the Parliamentary Register), 
said: "Frederick II, whose name alone was sufficient 
to preserve that balance of power which assured to 
Europe general peace and happiness, still reigned. 



INTRODUCTION 13 

But the prince was fast declining*. It was at the 
moment that the self-styled 'Voyageur frangais' en- 
deavoured to ingratiate himself with the greatest per- 
sonages of the state, in order to gather any stray 
scraps of conversation, and to endeavour, in the 
midst of the trouble and commotion caused by the 
unforeseen changes of a new ruler, to surprise minis- 
terial secrets, to detect the aims and ambitions of the 
nobles, to expose the intrigues of courtesans, and to 
fathom the plots of the Court. 

"It is not enough to have showered invectives on 
the uncle of the new king, the king himself, his 
august family, the princesses of the blood and the 
ministry; in fact the whole court is treated with such 
a criminal indecency that we should blush to repeat 
the infamous expressions of which the author has 
made use." 

This arraignment, as the reader may suspect, was 
dictated from motives of royal policy. Louis upon 
his tottering throne could not afford to pass by free- 
spoken criticism of a neighbouring court in silence. 
Such material was dangerous, and the book was ac- 
cordingly destroyed. The original manuscript, how- 
ever, was stolen from the royal archives, sold to 
Malassis, a printer of Alengon, and published by him 
as a work by "an unknown traveller who had died a 
year previous in Germany." Several editions, total- 
ling 20,000 copies, were quickly issued to meet the 
wide-spread demand; and a few months later it was 
translated into English. It was not, however, until 
Mirabeau attained his larger fame as the head of the 
Revolution, and the offended authorities were no more, 
that his name was placed upon the work as author. 

In respect to the charges of the king's advocate and 
others, that the work includes scandalous revelations 
and other confidential material, it must be remembered 



14 INTRODUCTION 

that the "Secret History" covers precisely the ground 
it was intended to cover. Mirabeau was sent upon a 
secret mission to report all he saw at Court. This he 
did, conscientiously, in letters addressed to a single 
individual, and not intended, at the time, for publica- 
tion. Indeed, it has been asserted that their issue in 
book form was entirely contrary to the author's 
wishes. He had busied himself, also, while in Berlin 
upon a lengthy study of the ''Prussian Monarchy,'' 
published in 1788, to which he proposed to give his 
name, and which gave proof of his far-reaching grasp 
of matters political, financial, and legislative. 

It is in these letters, however, that he has preserved 
for us an interesting epoch in European life. The 
great Frederick was passing away. The Court of 
France was crumbling. All was unrest and upheaval, 
and Mirabeau by tongue and pen was a vital influence. 
In these historical memoirs he is consistently himself, 
revealing his own personality quite as much as the 
court life he describes. He has preserved the reputa- 
tion of telling the truth, and it was this trait which 
made him the great popular leader of later years. 

After reading the memoirs of his checkered life, 
written by his contemporaries, Goethe exclaimed : '*At 
last the wonderful Mirabeau becomes natural to us, 
while at the same time the hero loses nothing of his 
greatness! .... The French look upon Mirabeau 
as their Hercules, and they are perfectly right. But 
they forget that even the Colossus consists of individual 
parts, and that the Hercules of antiquity is a collective 
being — a gigantic personification of deeds done by 
himself and by others." 



MEMOIRS OF 

THE COURTS OF BERLIN 

AND ST. PETERSBURG 

LETTER I 

July sth, 1786. 

SIR, — I have the honor to write to you by the 
first post, to mform you that the Berhn mail, for 
which I waited before I would enter my car- 
riage, has brought me no letter. It is possible, but not 
probable, that the letter of my correspondent has been 
sent too late for the post. It is also possible, and very 
likely, nay, if the Comte de Vergennes has received no 
intelligence it is almost certain, that the great event 
either approaches or is past; for I hold it as infallible 
that, when death becomes inevitable, the couriers will 
be stopped. This, sir, deeply engages my attention, 
and I shall hasten with all expedition to Brunswick, 
where I shall gain certain information; there I shall 
remain several days if the King is living. 

I have at present only to add, I shall think no labor, 
time, or trouble too great if I can but serve you, mon- 
sieur, and the cause of the public. 

I shall not repeat any of our conversations, but shall 
take the liberty to offer you my advice, solely founded 
on my personal attachment; of which you cannot 
doubt, since, independent of that amiable seduction 
which you exercise with power so irresistible, our 

15 



i6 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

interests are the same. The torrent of your affairs, 
the activity of cabals, the efforts of every kind which 
you so prodigally are obliged to make, render it im- 
possible that you should yourself class and arrange 
the grand projects which your genius has brought to 
maturity, and which are ready to bud and bloom. You 
have testified some regret that I, for the present, de- 
clined performing this office for you. Permit me 
therefore, monsieur, to name a person who is, in every 
respect, worthy of this mark of your confidence. 

The Abbe de Perigord, to consummate and practical 
abilities, joins profound circumspection and inviolable 
secrecy. You never can select a man more to be de- 
pended upon ; or one who will with more fervent piety 
bow before the shrine of gratitude and friendship; 
who will be more anxiously active in good, less covet- 
ous of others' fame, or one with superior conviction 
that fame is justly due to him, only, who has the power 
to conceive and the fortitude to execute. 

He possesses another advantage. His ascendency 
over Panchaud represses the defects of the latter, 
which have been so described to you as to inspire 
fears, and sets all his great qualities and uncommon 
talents, which daily become more necessary to you, in 
action. There is no man who can guide and rule M. 
Panchaud like the Abbe de Perigord, who will mo- 
mentarily become more valuable to you the better to 
effect a grand money measure, without which no other 
measures can be effected. You may confide that deli- 
cate business to the Abbe de Perigord, which, espe- 
cially in the present moment, ought not to be trusted 
to clerks. The noble, the enlightened, the civic pro- 
ject of drawing inferences from the numerous false 
statements that infest the accounts of Ministers (and 
which, being compared to the true statements, caused, 
or rather obliged, the King to determine that decisive 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 17 

measures should give France a national credit, and 
consequently a legal constitution) cannot ht better 
realized than by the joint labors of these two persons. 
One of them has long been devoted to you; and the 
other will be, whenever any single act of benevolence 
shall excite his emulation. Condescend to believe, 
monsieur, that you cannot act more to your own 
interest. 

I was desirous of writing thus to-night, because it 
would neither be delicate nor decent for the person 
interested to read what I have written ; and this letter 
is the last you will receive that must not pass through 
the hands of a third person. My attachment, mon- 
sieur, to you, and your fame, induces me to hope you 
will place some confidence in this counsel, if I may so 
venture to call it ; and that it will not be ranked among 
the least of the proofs of the most devoted respect 
with which I am, etc. 



LETTER II 

Brunswick, July 12th, 1786. 
That the King is very ill is very certain; but he is 
not at the point of death. Zimmermann, the famous 
Hanoverian physician, whom he sent for, has declared 
that, if he would be careful, he might still live; but he 
is incorrigible on the article of abstinence. He still 
mounts his horse, and he even trotted fifty paces some 
days since, with a man on each side of him; but it is 
nevertheless true that he has the dropsy; and in real- 
ity, he has not been any better since my departure. 

I shall not see the reigning Duke of Brunswick 
before this evening; he is in the country. He has 
powerfully supported the election which the Chapters 



i8 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

of Hildesheim and Paderborn have lately made of a 
coadjutor. M. Furstemberg has been elected. Vi- 
enna caballed exceedingly in favor of the Archduke 
Maximilian. It appears that the Duke wishes to pro- 
mote peace, since he endeavors, by every means, to 
strengthen the Germanic confederation, which cer- 
tainly has that only for its end, though the means 
may give room for reflection. I have my reasons for 
being of that opinion, which I shall explain on some 
other occasion. To-day I am at the mercy of the 
courier. 

Parties are very busy at Berlin; especially that of 
Prince Henry, w4o is eternally eager, without well 
knowing what he wishes. But all is silence in the 
King's presence; he still is King, and so will remain 
to the last moment. 

As the immediate death of the King is not expected, 
I shall continue at Brunswick some days, in order to 
prepare him for my return (much more premature 
than I had announced) and that I may more nearly 
study the Duke. 

The coinage continues to be an object of contention, 
and exaggerated discredit. I think it would be of use 
to publish apologetic reasons concerning the gold coin, 
confessing its too high rate (for wherefore deny that 
which is demonstrated?); and justificatory proofs, 
relative to the silver, the crowns of sixty-nine, and 
those since 1784, still remaining prohibited. 

You no doubt know that the Duke, Louis of Bruns- 
wick, has quitted Aix-la-Chapelle, and is retired to 
Eisenach. The troubles of that petty republic may 
perhaps explain his retreat; but these do not seem to 
me sufficient motives for his new abode, and for this 
single reason, that the Duchess of Weymar is his 
niece. 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 19 
LETTER III 

July 14th, 1786. 
I DINED and supped yesterday with the Duke. When 
we rose from table, after dinner, he took me aside to 
the window, where we conversed for about two hours, 
with much reserve at first, on his part, afterward with 
more openness, and at last with an evident desire to be 
thought sincere. 

An expression of esteem for the Comte de Ver- 
gennes, and fear for his approaching retreat, gave 
occasion to this private conversation. The expression 
alluded to was immediately followed by the question 
(which was asked in a tone of affected indifference, 
and betrayed a very strong degree of curiosity), " No 
doubt M. de Breteuil will be his successor ? " The 
Duchess was of our party. I answered, lowering my 
voice, but articulating with great firmness, " I hope 
and believe not." It was after I had said this that he 
led me to the window, at the far end of the apartment. 
He presently began to converse, with all the energy 
which his slowness and native dignity admit, of the 
inquietude which the Germanic body could not avoid 
feeling, should M. de Breteuil, who was at the head of 
the Austrian party, and who has long been a servant 
and friend of the Cabinet of Vienna, succeed to the 
place of first Minister. 

I replied (speaking of the Comte de Vergennes with 
every respect, and of the generous and pacific inten- 
tions of the King with great confidence) that, should 
the Comte de Vergennes retire, it would probably be 
of his own free will ; and that no one would have 
greater influence than himself in the choice of his suc- 
cessor; that consequently, whether he remained in 
office or went out, the first Minister would not be of 



20 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

the Austrian party; and, though most assuredly the 
probity of the King, and the morale of his politics, 
would continue to render the connections between the 
Courts of Vienna and Versailles respected, as they 
would all others, yet, that the interest of Europe, and 
of France in particular, was so intimately united to 
the continuance of peace, that these connections, far 
from inciting war, could but contribute to render 
peace durable; that France was sufficiently puissant, 
from innate strength and from the state of her affairs, 
honorably to own that she dreaded war, which she 
would take every care to shun; that I did not think 
sudden war probable, especially when, studying the 
administration of the Duke of Brunswick, I perceived 
that he had performed his duties, of Prince and father, 
with so much assiduity and success; that, however 
natural it might be for man to seek that career, in 
which he was indubitably the first, I could not believe 
he (the Duke) would sacrifice to the desire of military 
renown, so much of which he had already acquired, 
his favorite work, his real enjoyments, and the inher- 
itance of his children; that all circumstances called 
him to supreme influence over the affairs of Prussia 
after the death of the great King, and that, Prussia 
being at this time the pivot on which continental war 
or peace were balanced, he (the Duke of Brunswick) 
would almost singly decide which was to ensue; that 
he had formerly sufficiently shone the hero of war, 
and that I was convinced he would hereafter remain 
the angel of peace. 

He then forcibly denied ever having been fond of 
war; even at the time when he had been most fort- 
unate. He showed, independent of his principles, how 
ardently his family and personal interest would induce 
him to beware of war. " And if it were necessary," 
added he, "in an affair so important, to consult noth- 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 21 

ing further than the despicable gratification of self- 
love, do I not know how much war is the sport of 
chance? I have formerly not been unfortunate. I 
might hereafter be a better general, and yet might not 
have the same success. No prudent man, especially 
one who is advanced in life, will risk his reputation in 
so hazardous a pursuit, if it may be avoided." 

This part of his discourse, which was long, ani- 
mated, energetic, and evidently sincere, was preceded 
by a phrase of etiquette and remonstrance, in which he 
assured me that he never should possess, and was far 
from desiring to possess, any influence in Prussia. 
To this phrase I reverted; and, by a rapid sketch, 
proving to him that I was well acquainted with Ber- 
lin, the principal actors there, and the present state 
of men and things, I demonstrated (which he most 
certainly knows better than I do) that his interest, the 
interest of his house, of Germany, and of Europe, 
made it a duty in him to take the helm of State in 
Prussia ; to preserve that kingdom from the hurricane 
most fatal to States, the strength of which principally 
depends upon opinion. I mean from petty intrigues, 
petty passions, and want of stability and consistency 
of system. " Your personal dignity," added I, "which 
is truly immense, and a thousand times more elevated 
than your rank, however eminent that may be, no 
doubt forbids you to tender your services; but it is 
your duty, I will not say not to refuse, no, I repeat, it is 
your duty to take measures, and employ all your abil- 
ities, all your powers, to gain an ascendency over the 
successor, and to seize the direction of affairs." 

This mode of treatment greatly developed the man. 
He spoke with truth, and consequently with a degree 
of confidence, of Berlin. He told me Count Hertz- 
berg had not let him remain ignorant of our intimacy; 
he depicted many of the persons who have influence, 



22 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

such as I know them to be. I clearly saw that there 
was a coolness, founded on some unknown subject, 
between him and the Prince of Prussia; that he (the 
Duke of Brunswick) neither loved nor esteemed 
Prince Henry; and that his (the Duke's) party was 
as powerfully formed as it could be, in a country hith- 
erto little in the habit of cabal, but which, perhaps, will 
presently be initiated. I purposely assumed much 
faith in the warlike dispositions of the Cabinet of 
Berlin. The Duke gave good proofs that, independent 
of the Heir Apparent, who, though personally brave, 
was not warlike, as well because of his manners and 
habits as of his prodigious stature, it would be mad- 
ness to begin; that the moment of acquisition by arms, 
which, perhaps, still was necessary to Prussia, was not 
yet come; and that it was necessary to consolidate, 
etc., etc. All this was very serious, very sensible, and 
very circumstantial. 

The Oriental system, Russia, Poland, Courland, all 
passed in review. 

They still have their fears concerning the Oriental 
system; that is to say, concerning the part that we 
might take. They seem to believe that Russia will 
never powerfully second the Emperor, except in sup- 
port of the Oriental system, and whatever may con- 
tribute to its success. Poland is to reconstruct. We 
remitted speaking of it, as well as of Courland. Sud- 
denly, and by a very abrupt transition (it seems to me 
he employs transitions to surprise the secrets of those 
with whom he converses, and on whom he earnestly 
fixes his eyes while he listens), he asked what I meant 
to do at Berlin. ''Complete my knowledge of the 
North," answered I, '' which I have had little oppor- 
tunity of studying, except at that city; since Vienna 
and Petersburg are to me forbidden places. And who 
knows? We always presume on our own powers. 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 23 

It may be hoped that, the subject being so grand, the 
soul may elevate the genius. I, perhaps, shall dare to 
snatch the portrait of Caesar from the daubers who 
are so eager to besmear." This answer seemed satis- 
factory. I found it easy to interlard my discourse 
with agreeable compliments. I told him he had rather 
conquered than vanquished us; that we regarded the 
fate of Germany as resting on his shoulders, etc., etc. ; 
and that, therefore, the design of writing the most 
brilliant history of the age in which I lived had placed 
me, even before I was acquainted with him, in the 
rank of one of his most ardent admirers. I know not 
whether he did or did not believe that I solely occupied 
myself w^ith literature ; but the supposition that I shall 
write history will perhaps render him more accessible 
to me, and acquire me more of his confidence; for he 
appears to possess the love, and even the jealousy, of 
fame to the utmost degree. 

I am pressed by the courier because, not having 
quitted the Court all yesterday, I could not write be- 
fore this morning; and the courier departs at eleven 
o'clock. Writing in cipher is very tedious ; I therefore 
omit a thousand particulars which lead me to believe — 

1. That the English will not, by any means, be so 
quickly successful in their artifices in the North as 
might be feared; if the Court of Berlin may at all 
depend on the Court of Versailles. 

2. That it is time to speak a little more openly to 
the former ; and not to confound mystery and secrecy, 
finesse and prudence, ambiguity and policy. 

3. That the Duke of Brunswick, whom I believe to 
be by much the most able Prince of Germany, is sin- 
cerely desirous of peace; and that he will inspire the 
Cabinet of Berlin with the same sentiments, if but the 
least restraint be laid on the Emperor ; who, said he to 
me, has spoken in outrageous terms, in the presence 



24 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

of seven or eight witnesses besides myself, of the 
Prince of Prussia. 

4. That the intention of the Duke is to govern 
Prussia, and to obtain great confidence and superior 
influence in Europe; that he would dread lest these 
would not be augmented by war, which he is convinced 
ought to be avoided, at Berlin; and that war is not 
really to be feared, except as far as France shall en- 
courage the Emperor, who without us will not be any- 
thing. 

I have not time to-day to give more than a sketch 
of the Duke such as he appears to me, who certainly 
will not be thought a common man even among men 
of merit. His person bespeaks depth and penetration, 
a desire to please tempered by fortitude, nay by sever- 
ity. He is polite to affectation ; speaks with precision, 
and with a degree of elegance; but he is somewhat too 
careful to speak thus, and the proper word sometimes 
escapes him. He understands the art of listening, and 
of interrogating according to the very spirit of reply. 
Praise, gracefully embellished and artfully concealed, 
he finds agreeable. He is prodigiously laborious, well 
informed, and perspicuous. However able his first 
Minister Feronce may be, the Duke superintends all 
affairs, and generally decides for himself. His cor- 
respondence is immense, for which he can only be 
indebted to his personal consideration ; because he can- 
not be sufficiently wealthy to keep so many corre- 
spondents in pay; and few great Courts are so well 
informed as he is. All his affairs are in excellent or- 
der. He became the reigning Duke of Brunswick in 
1780, and found his principality loaded with debts, to 
the amount of forty millions of livres. His adminis- 
tration has been such that, with a revenue of about 
one hundred thousand louis, and a sinking fund in 
which he has deposited the savings of the English sub- 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 25 

sidies, he will, in 1790, not only have perfectly liqui- 
dated the debts of the sovereignty, but, also, those of 
the State. His country is as free as it can be; and is 
happy and contented, except that the trading class 
regret the prodigality of his father. Not that the 
reigning Duke is less sensible to elegant pleasures 
than another; but, severely observant of decency, and 
religiously faithful to his duty as a Prince, he has 
perceived that economy was his only resource. His 
mistress, Madame Hartfield, is the most reasonable 
woman at Court ; and so proper is this attachment that, 
having a short time since discovered an inclination for 
another woman, the Duchess leagued with Madame 
Hartfield to keep her at a distance. Truly an Alci- 
biades, he delights in the pleasures and the graces; 
but these never subtract anything from his labors or 
his duties, not even those of prudence. When he is 
to act as a Prussian general, no one is so early, so 
active, so minute as himself. It is a mark of superior 
character and understanding, in my opinion, that the 
labor of the day can be less properly said to be suffi- 
cient for him than he is for the labor of the day ; his 
first ambition is that of executing it well. Intoxicated 
by military success, and universally pointed out as a 
great general (especially since the campaign of 1778, 
during which he all the winter maintained the feeble 
post of Troppau, to which the King of Prussia an- 
nexed a kind of vanity, against every effort of the 
Austrians), he appears effectually to have quitted 
military glory, to betake himself to the cares of gov- 
ernment. Everywhere made welcome, possessed of 
unbounded curiosity, he still is capable of assiduously 
confining himself to Brunswick, and attaching himself 
to business. He is, in fine, a man of an uncommon 
stamp, but too wise to be formidable to the wise. He 
delights much in France, with which he is exceedingly 



26 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

well acquainted, and appears to be very fond of 
whatever comes from that country. His eldest son, 
returning from Lausanne, has passed through Franche- 
Comte, Languedoc, and Provence, and is very de- 
sirous to return to France. I shall soon know if he 
is to be sent back. In my opinion the son cannot be 
treated with too much respect there, so as to testify 
confidence in the father; which it seems to me would 
give the latter pleasure, by which he would certainly 
be sufficiently confirmed and flattered, to keep this 
treatment in memory. 

I cannot at present speak of the supper, when the 
Duke removed me from the place of honor, opposite 
the Duchess, where I sat at dinner, to seat me beside 
himself, which is always at the far end of the table. 
The conversation was lively, and absolutely individual, 
but not political. (We had Hsteners.) He ques- 
tioned me much concerning France. I am to dine 
with him to-day, and to sup with the Duchess Dow- 
ager, at Antoinetten-Ruh. I could not avoid this tax 
on propriety, which deprives me of an opportunity of 
supping with the Duke, — a favor he rarely grants, 
and which appeared to be much remarked here, yester- 
day, where I am observed with anxiety. Perhaps I 
am supposed a place hunter. 

The continuance of Zimmermann at Potsdam is pro- 
longed, more than it was supposed it would have been. 
He writes that the dropsy is not confirmed, and he 
again talks of an asthma. This is medical cant. He 
is the creature of the King, not of the public. Certain 
it is that he has gained no victory over eel pies and 
polenta; that there are no longer any wrinkles in the 
face ; and that the parts are all inflated and oedematous. 

Prince Henry, however, is returned to Rheinsberg, 

where the youthful and handsome R , as it is said, 

occasions rain and fair weather. 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 2y 

I can warrant it as a fact that a Scotchman who is 
first physician to Catherine 11. of Russia, being lately 
at Vienna, dined at the table of the Emperor, and was 
seated by his side. Indeed, this was avowed in the 
Gazettes; but it was not there avowed that, while this 
physician remained at Vienna, Cobenzl (the Austrian 
Ambassador to the Court of Petersburg-, but then at 
Vienna) having been ordered to show the physician 
a pleasure house in the vicinity of the metropolis, the 
Emperor on horseback happened to meet the doctor 
on the road, and continued in conversation with him, 
at the coach window, for the space of more than two 
leagues. 



LETTER IV 

July i6th, 1786. 
To-day I was three hours alone with the Duke, after 
rising from dinner. The conversation was animated, 
frank, and almost confidential: it confirmed me in 
most of the opinions I gave in my last letter (Number 
III.), but it has inspired me with much fear, concern- 
ing the situation of Prussia after the death of the King. 
The successor seems to have every symptom of the 
most incurable weakness; the most corrupt among 
the persons by whom he is surrounded, of whom the 
gloomy and visionary Bishopswerder may be ranked 
as first, daily increase in power. There is a coolness 
said to prevail between the Heir Apparent and his 
uncles. The coadjutorship of the Order of St. John, 
bestowed with great solemnity on Prince Henry, the 
eldest son of Prince Ferdinand, which deprives the 
successor of more than fifty thousand crowns per 
annum, is the most recent cause of this coolness. It 
should seem that there have been very powerful in- 



28 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

trigues for the establishment of these two young 
Princes, whom both city and Court regard as the chil- 
dren of Count Schmettau. The measures taken to 
effect this were strengthened at the very moment when 
the King was supposed to be expiring, so as to bind 
the successor, of whom they consequently have testified 
their suspicion. To the King's brother. Prince Henry, 
the half at least of all this appertains; nor has the 
Heir Apparent attempted to conceal his dissatisfaction. 
Thence it results that all the subaltern parties, and 
their dirty cabals, become more active; so that the re- 
spect in which the Court of Berlin has been held, and 
in which consists its greatest power, depends, perhaps, 
but too much on the life of the King; unless the Duke 
of Brunswick should seize the reins of government, the 
burden of which he seriously appears to dread. In 
effect, a kingdom like this, which has no constituent 
foundation, will be cruelly agitated, should the winds 
of Court begin to blow ; and should the Duke, who has 
formed himself without having studied in the school 
of adversity, and whose reason and sagacity it is im- 
possible to speak too highly of, fear to reverse the 
whole system of his mode of life. But he does not 
start at difficulties ; and he is too much interested in the 
prosperity of Prussia not to seek to obtain influence 
there. 

It does not appear to me probable that the first six 
months, or even the first year, should produce any 
change, or do more than prepare for change. The 
Duke has repeatedly assured me that all the Protestant 
powers of Germany, and a great part of the Catholic, 
would incontrovertibly be in the interest of France, 
whenever the latter should fully convince the Ger- 
manic body of her amicable intentions; and when I 
asked what pledges should be given us that the high 
part with which the Elector of Hanover was invested, 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 29 

in the confederation of the Princes, should not sway 
the Cabinet of BerHn to the side of the EngHsh, and 
should not become an invincible impediment to any 
sincere union between Versailles and Prussia, he 
clearly showed me, so as not to admit of reply, that 
the Germanic league would never have existed, or at 
least would never have assumed its present form, had 
it not been for the ambiguity of our conduct, relative 
to the Schelde, to Bavaria, and to the Oriental sys- 
tem. He added that the Elector of Hanover, and the 
King of England, were two very distinct persons: 
and that the English and the Germans were great 
strangers to each other. 

Here I ought to observe that, in my opinion, the 
Duke overacts his part, whenever he speaks of depress- 
ing England, which I well know he loves; and that 
perhaps because he feels his family connections may, 
in this respect, render him more liable to suspicion. 
In a word, I cannot too often repeat that they do not 
appear to have confidence in us, but that such confi- 
dence is very sincerely desired; and that the more be- 
cause the Emperor, unsupported by France, is not 
held in the least dread, and that there is a reigning con- 
viction he will not dare to take a single step, when the 
Cabinet of Versailles shall say, " We will not suffer 
any infraction." 

Be it however remarked that the incoherent con- 
duct of the Emperor, and his abrupt vagaries, often 
unhinge all the combinations of reason. The Duke 
has to-day learned a fact of this kind, which may well 
incite meditation. 

The Baron of Gemmingen, some time since, wrote a 
very violent pamphlet against the German confederacy. 
Dohm, an excellent Prussian civilian, answered in a 
strong and victorious manner. The Ministry of 
Vienna, in consequence, requested our Ministry to 



30 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

entreat the Court of Berlin to suffer wordy hostilities 
to cease. The latter consented; but there has just ap- 
peared (printed indeed at Munich, but indubitably com- 
ing from Vienna) a satirical and bitter reply to Dohm. 
Verbal wars are rarely insignificant at Vienna, where 
they are never begun but under the auspices of Govern- 
ment. 

The following is another fact of serious import, if 
true. The Duke has received advice, from Vienna, 
that between four and five thousand Russians have 
entered Poland, where the Diet threatens to be very 
turbulent. The Duke is desirous we should take a 
decisive part concerning and against all new arrange- 
ments tending to the further dissolution or dismem- 
berment of Poland. I have not knowledge sufficient 
of this country to enter into any circumstantial detail; 
but I spoke to him on the subject of Courland, explain- 
ing my ideas, relative to the late proceedings of Rus- 
sia in this country, such as they will be found in my 
Memorial ; and I introduced my discourse as if arising 
out of the conversation. He was ardently attentive to 
what I said, and promised to write according to my 
sense of the danger to Count Hertzberg. I well com- 
prehend that the circumstances of the moment are 
nothing less than favorable ; and the assent which was 
warmly given by a most excellent politician emboldens 
me to entreat that my Memorial may be taken into con- 
sideration, though it should only be practicable in fu- 
ture, and that some instructions may be sent me, on the 
manner in which I may sound the Duke of Courland 
on this head, whom I shall meet at Berlin, and the 
principal persons of Courland, with whom I may 
easily correspond; my trade of traveler being known, 
and my desire to collect facts and to deduce conse- 
quences giving great opportunities to inquire and 
speak concerning all subjects. 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 31 
MEMORIAL 

Sent to the Court of France, Concerning the Declaration Made 
by Russia to Courland, and Published in the " Leyden Ga- 
zettes," from the 20th of May to the 3rd of June, 1786. 

Courland has lately been ofilicially menaced with the 
indignation of the Sovereign of all the Russias, on 
the supposition that the report, relative to the abdica- 
tion of the Duke of Courland in favor of the Prince 
of Wurtemberg, a general in the Prussian service, 
should be true. 

The reigning Duke, Ernest John, a ferocious man, 
so much abhorred in his own country as not to be able 
to remain there, although he should not dread any 
violence from the Ministry of Petersburg, is known to 
be the son of the famous Biron, who was reinstated 
Duke of Courland, in 1760, by the influence, or rather 
through the fear of Russia, which power, with the aid 
of forty thousand men, expelled Prince Charles of 
Saxony, the uncle of the Elector and the legitimate 
Duke, to restore the former favorite of Elizabeth, 
whom a court faction had lately recalled from Siberia. 

It is also known that this Ernest John has more than 
once felt the whole weight of the resentment of Cather- 
ine II. ; that he has been near twenty years banished 
into Siberia; that he has no influence whatever in 
Courland ; and that his abdication is universally wished. 

But it is not known, or rather it is kept secret, that 
he was enjoined, by a Ukase (or edict) six years ago, 
to resign his duchy to Prince Potemkin; and that, by 
the advice of the Chancellor Taube, and of the Cham- 
berlain Howen, he averted the storm by remitting to 
Prince Potemkin (whose affairs ever were and are in 
disorder) two hundred thousand ducats. Rason, the 
ministerial secretary of the Duke, was intrusted to 
carry him this sum. 



32 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

Whether it be that Potemkin, while waiting for the 
execution of his grand projects, which perhaps relate 
to the Oriental system, or to circumstances *that are 
yet immature, wishes to acquire this accession of 
power; whether it be that he is in want of money; or 
more especially whether it be that the Duke of Cour- 
land, since his situation has been so precarious is 
known in consequence of his avarice to have become 
one of the richest princes in Europe, and that, rendered 
effeminate by adversity, old age, and the daily im- 
portunities of his last wife, who has acquired some 
influence over him, he is endeavoring to place himself 
beyond the reach of ill fortune; be it which of these 
causes it may, a similar crisis is again returned. 

The Cabinet of Petersburg is ignorant of none of 
these things. It doubtless fears that the Court of 
Berlin is speculating concerning the provinces of Cour- 
land ; hoping, by the aid of a new Duke, to have it en- 
tirely at its disposal. The conditions which gave 
Poland a right of protection over Courl-and having 
ceased, when power became law, and at the moment 
the oppressed republic found it impossible to fulfill 
those conditions, it is not absurd to apprehend that 
Prussia will surreptitiously take the place of Poland, 
and thus to its own profit confirm the right by the deed. 

Courland is in reality far from a contemptible 
country. Its climate, being in the 57th degree of lati- 
tude, though sufficiently is not insupportably cold. Its 
extent in length is eighty leagues, and in breadth 
fifty. Its soil is fertile, and its natural products are 
very necessary for all the commercial and maritime 
powers. Two principal and navigable rivers divide it, 
from east to west, the Aa and the Windau; several 
brooks and canals intersect it in every direction. It 
has two ports, Windau and Liebau on the Baltic. In 
its present important and indolent state its commerce, 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 33 

active and passive, does not employ less than from 
six to seven hundred vessels, of three, four, and as 
far as eight hundred tons burden. It contains seven 
or eight small towns, and its population is estimated 
at more than a million and a half of inhabitants. The 
landholders may be supposed not to be in a state of 
wretchedness, since the revenues of the reigning Duke, 
whose influence in the republic is so small, annually 
amount to two hundred thousand pounds sterling. 
Such is the outline of the situation of Courland. 

It would be of little use to prove in this place that 
the republic being a free State, the Prince of which is 
purely elective, so that though he may abdicate he can- 
not transfer his privileges, Russia cannot legally in- 
terfere in the affairs of Courland, which ought to be 
as independent as are its rights. This word rights is 
totally stripped of meaning when opposed to the word 
POWER. Russia has long been in the habit of vexing 
Courland, internally and externally; of dictating the 
choice of its Governors; of laying its suffrages under 
restraint; and of extorting or forcibly seizing on its 
money, its produce and its men. The Monarchs of 
Petersburg have always made it a principle to fa- 
miliarize the Courts of Europe to the supposition that 
Courland has no political existence except such as 
Russia shall please to bestow. All this is well known. 

The points I should wish briefly here to examine are : 

1. Whether it is not evidently our interest to intro- 
duce a new order of affairs ; and — 

2. Whether we have not the means so to do. 
Courland, kept back and oppressed by every kind of 

exterior and interior tyranny, possesses no one species 
of manufacture. It abounds in naval stores ; stores for 
which reason there is an affinity, resulting from cir- 
cumstances, between Courland and France, which lat- 
ter holds the first rank among industrial nations, or an 



34 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

affinity between their mutual products, the direct barter 
of which would give birth to the most advantageous 
kind of trade. 

In reality, there exists at present a species of barter 
between Courland and France; but in so indirect a 
manner that it is carried on at second or third hand, 
by the intervention of the English, the Dutch, the 
Swedes, the Danes, the Prussians, the Hanse Towns, etc. 

This intervention absorbs and destroys all the 
benefit which a trade so advantageous would be of to 
France, and which certainly ought abundantly to pro- 
cure us, and at a moderate price, a price unknown in 
our dockyards and markets, ship timber, masts, spokes, 
fellies, veneering wood, etc., grain, ship beef, saltfish, 
vegetables, etc. The natural returns for these would 
be the produce of our industry, from the coarsest to 
the finest articles (for nothing is manufactured in 
Courland), which the Courlanders (whose consump- 
tion is great, and who are very desirous of articles of 
luxury, and even of finery) would then obtain from 
us at a moderate price, still infinitely lucrative to our 
traders. 

The advantage of this direct trade would not be con- 
fined merely to money ; for, besides the influence which 
such intimate connections with Courland would give 
us in the Baltic and the North, where we should be- 
come the mediators between Prussia, Russia, and Po- 
land, which last State must necessarily soon undergo 
some new change, France, by a commercial treaty with 
Courland, would acquire two ports on the Baltic, 
which would at least remain neuter and almost ex- 
clusive to herself. These would be useful to us, both 
in war and peace, as depository places for stores, and 
most of the materials which are requisite for the royal 
and mercantile marine; and would highly compensate 
the disadvantage which continually increases, and 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 35 

which is preparing for us in the North, relative to 
our marine, in consequence of the strict connections 
between England and Russia. 

To the attentive observer, England presents every 
symptom which can menace the possessions of the 
Dutch in the East, and which can forebode the de- 
sire of revenge. Russia can at any time rob France 
of a great part of the naval supplies of war in the 
European seas. 

This order of affairs cannot too soon be reversed. 

Let it be attentively observed that there is no ques- 
tion here of a new treaty, but the revival of an ancient 
one ; for the Cardinal de Richelieu made a treaty with 
Courland, in 1643, which was registered by the Parlia- 
ment of Paris, in 1647; so that, should we at present 
treat with Courland, we can decisively affirm, and 
demonstrate, we are committing no innovation. 

This seems to me to be a very important remark, 
which ought not a little to influence the resolution that 
may be taken, and the form given to that resolution, 
when once it is taken. 

The States of Courland desire this poHtical affinity 
between the two countries. The Chamberlain Howen, 
of whom I have spoken, is a man of the greatest in- 
fluence in the republic, and, of all the Courlanders, 
the most anti-Russian; because that, while an envoy 
from Courland to the Court of Warsaw, he was car- 
ried off, by order of the Empress, and banished into 
Siberia. His nephew was indirectly, but formally, 
charged to question the Government of France on this 
subject. I positively know he has spoken to the Comte 
de Vergennes, and that the only answer he received 
from the Minister was: 

1. That, he being Minister for Foreign Affairs, this 
was a subject that did not appertain to his department. 

2. That it was requisite that the Duke of Courland 

2 — Memoirs Vol. 5 



36 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

and the States, conjointly and officially, should make a 
proposition to the King, concerning a treaty of com- 
merce. 

To this I reply : 

1. That, most certainly, the Minister for Foreign 
Affairs ought to consult with the Minister of Finance, 
on whatever relates to commercial treaties, but that this 
does not therefore appear to me a sufficient reason to 
reject either the project or the proposal. 

2. That it would be absurd to suppose that Cour- 
land, bowed as it is under the iron rod of present cir- 
cumstances, would expose itself, by taking any open 
step, without first being certain its propositions should 
be favourably received, and that the country should 
be protected against that power which, possessed of 
strength and in the habit of taking its will for law, 
should make every effort to counteract and prevent 
whatever might tend to impart solidity to the consti- 
tution of Courland, and to render its political inde- 
pendence respectable. 

I see no hope that any power, except Prussia, should 
interest itself in the affairs of this province. And this 
is the second point which it is my intention to prove, 
in this Memorial. 

1. Because the situation of the Prussian States is 
such that the stability and prosperity of Courland ought 
no less to influence the King of Prussia than if this 
country was one of his own provinces. 

2. Because he cannot prudently covet Courland, 
which Russia would never leave him in peaceable 
possession of, and which would but increase the length 
of his provinces, already too much extended, without 
rendering the power more real or more compact. 

This latter point is self-demonstrative; and, as to 
the advantages which Prussia might derive from the 
future stability of Courland, and from the increase of 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 37 

its energy and industry, these are evident from a mere 
view of the map. Between the States of Brandenburg 
and Russia there is only the dismemberment of Poland, 
which at present forms part of Prussian Lithuania 
and of Courland, of which the King of Prussia, politely 
speaking, would become the useful proprietor that 
very day on which he should become its guardian and 
protector, Russia, therefore, necessarily and indubi- 
tably is formidable to none of the powers of Europe, 
Prussia excepted, on which kingdom she can bring 
evil, and which can do her no injury. 

On the other part, it is known that there is only a 
very narrow slip of Polish Lithuania between the 
States of Prussia and Courland, which barely extends 
from five to six leagues. Here Prussia might easily 
make legal and amicable acquisitions, sufficient to open 
a very advantageous transport trade on the Memel, 
and the canals that might be cut between that river and 
the rivers of Courland, descending to the ports of the 
Baltic, of which I have spoken. 

Either I am much deceived or the Ministry of Berlin 
might easily be made to comprehend that, instead of 
forming projects of ambition on this republic, its real 
interest would be to declare, in some manner, Prussia 
to be the representative of Poland in her engagements 
toward Courland, as stipulated by the pacta conventa 
and the pacta subjectionis, which have been actually 
and necessarily destroyed. Prussia might find a hun- 
dred reasons of public right to allege, independent of 
her dignity and safety. This proposition, and that of 
acceding to our treaty of commerce with Courland, 
would therefore contain nothing imprudent; it would 
perhaps be a good means of depriving the House of 
Brandenburg of all fears relative to our Northern 
politics. Nor does it seem to be impossible but that 
the King of Prussia would, on this condition, support 



38 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

the declaration we might make to the Court of Peters- 
burg, that it was our determination to protect Cour- 
land ; and not to suffer a free country, alHed to France 
by ancient treaties, to be humbled, over which we 
would not permit any direct and legislative influence 
to be exerted by any Court. 

Such a declaration, softened by every diplomatic 
formality, which is so easily practiced, would at that 
time be sufficient, in my opinion, especially if made in 
concert with the Court of Berlin, to repel the projects 
of usurpation conceived by Russia over Courland. 
i Be these things as they may, this small country, too 
little known, together with Poland and the Germanic 
body, claims the serious attention of the King of 
France; who, if my opinion be right, has no other 
general interest, on the continent, than that of main- 
taining peace and the reciprocal safety of States. 



LETTER V 

July igth, 1786. 
Yesterday morning, before my departure, the Duke 
granted me an audience for the space of about three 
hours; or rather, personally indicated a conference, 
under the pretense of remitting letters to Berlin, and 
which, indeed, he committed to my care. We again 
spoke of general affairs, and of the particular situation 
of Prussia; of the suspicions which he pretends it is 
impossible to avoid entertaining, concerning our in- 
tentions and our system (how should I answer him 
such is the disorder of our finances that it is impossible 
we should have any system?) ; of the dread that daily 
increases, which the Emperor necessarily inspires, who 
does good awkwardly, but who does enough to acquire 
great power, the basis of which is magnificent, and 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 39 

highly disproportionate to that of any other monarchy, 
France excepted; of the impossibihty of finding any 
counterpoise to this power, except in the prudence of 
the Cabinet of Versailles; of the little hope that the 
new regulations of Prussia should be wise; of the 
various directions which the various factions that were 
fermenting at Berlin might take; of the military vigor 
and the ambitious fumes which intoxicate the Duke of 
Weymar, who aspires to enter into the service of 
Prussia, and to embroil parties; of the necessity which 
there was that the Cabinet of Versailles should send 
a man of merit to Berlin, there to inspire awe and 
give advice, keep watch over the factious and the 
turbulent, etc., etc., etc. 

At length, questioning me with an air of fearing 
what he was going to say was an absurdity, he asked 
whether I should think the project of an alliance be- 
tween France, England, and Prussia an impracticable 
chimera; the end of which, solemnly avowed, should 
be to guarantee, throughout Europe, to each Prince 
his respective possessions; a measure in itself noble, 
and worthy of the two first powers, which should 
command all others to remain at peace; founded on 
the evident and combined interest of the tw^o rivals, 
and the greatest obstacle to which would be that no 
one would dare to put it in execution. 

The idea, on which I have for these seven years 
been ruminating, is too sublime not to be seductive. 
It would infallibly immortalize the Sovereign by whom 
it should be realized, and the Minister by whom it 
should be promoted. It would change the face of 
Europe, and totally to our advantage ; for, once again, 
commercial treaties, however advantageous to Eng- 
land, would never make the English anything more 
than our carriers and our most useful factors. 

The Duke has permitted me to correspond with 



40 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

him; he even desired me so to do, and I find I have 
obtained almost that very place in his opinion which 
I myself could have wished. 

July 2istj 1786. 

First Postscript. — I am arrived, and perhaps I 
shall learn but little to-day. The dropsy is in the 
stomach; nay, in the lungs. He was informed of it 
on Thursday. He heard it with great magnanimity, 
say son^p; others affirm he treated the physician, who 
was too sincere, very ill. He might drag on life, if 
he would take advice. Doctor Baylies says, another 
year; but I suspect he will never give up eel pies. 
Count Hertzberg has been at Sans Souci this week 
past; he had never before been sent for. Two days 
previous to that on which the King made him this 
kind of honorable reparation, if, however, it be any- 
thing else than the necessity of giving breath to those 
who are obliged to converse with him, and of enliven- 
ing his conversation, the Heir Apparent^ dined with 
the Count at his country seat, and passed tne best part 
of the evening with him and the Prince \)f Dessau. 
This has bewildered the parties that are hotl^^,animated 
against this estimable Minister, in and for Whom, ac- 
cording to my opinion, our embassy has always testi- 
fied too little confidence and respect. 

Second Postscript. — I have intelligence, from 
what I believe to be a very certain and profound 
source, wholly independent of the Cabinet of Berlin, 
that the Emperor has made preparations which greatly 
menace those parts of Moldavia and Wallachia that 
would be convenient to him to possess ; that he is im- 
mediately expected to repair to those frontiers in per- 
son; and that such motions cannot otherwise be 
explain^ than by reacting the conquest of the Crimea 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 41 

in those countries. This information, combined with 
the ultimatum which Russia has delivered in to the 
Porte, seems to me to be of sovereign importance. I 
do not know the precise intentions of the Court of 
France; but if the indefinite aggrandizement of the 
Emperor, and particularly the execution of the 
Oriental system, are as formidable to us as I suppose 
them to be, I entreat deliberations may be held whether 
it befits the dignity of the King to suffer the tragedy 
of Poland to recommence, the interest of the State to 
lose the Levant trade, or prudent policy to temporize, 
when the match is putting to the touch-hole. I cannot 
for my part doubt but that our inactivity, in such a 
case, must be gratuitous ; because the Emperor would 
most certainly not brave us; and fatal also, since we 
are precisely the only power who have at once the 
interest and the strength to impede such attempts. 
England will trouble herself little concerning them, 
and without us Prussia is nothing. 



LETTER VI 

July 21st, 1786. 

An odd incident has happened to me. I am just re- 
turned from the French Ambassador's who sent me 
word he could not have the honour of receiving my 
visit, because he was busy. To feel the whole import 
of this act, it is necessary to know that there has lately 
appeared an article in the "Hamburg Gazette," affirm- 
ing in express terms I had received orders to quit 
France. You will further recollect that, in general, 
the Ambassador of France is eagerly desirous of re- 
ceiving the visits of French travelers. Such is the 
present combination of circumstances that this, which 



42 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

would only, on any other occasion, be an affair of 
rather serious impoliteness, is at this moment a very 
embarrassing affectation. I believe I have no need to 
tell you I am far superior to punctilio ; but this is not 
mere form. The natural preponderance of France 
is such that the respect in which a native of that 
country is held cannot be wholly independent of the 
reception he shall meet from the Ambassador. What, 
then, must be thought when he shall be envied, sus- 
pected, and watched, and when pretenses are sought 
to render his character equivocal? And what must 
be his situation, when, far from seeking to quarrel 
with the Ambassador it is his duty and his wish, on all 
occasions, to preserve appearances, and to protect him 
from becoming instead of making him ridiculous? 

You will have no difficulty in comprehending that it 
is an intricate affair, and that I must well reflect on 
the part I have to take. At present I must dissemble, 
and expose myself to a new refusal to-morrow; but 
it will be impossible to suffer this new refusal to re- 
main unnoticed. I write you word of this in order 
that, in any case, and rather too soon than too late, 
you should inform M. d'Esterno it is not the inten- 
tion of Government that I should be treated in a 
disrespectful manner, and still less as a proscribed 
person. He Is so much of a timid trembler, that he 
may have been imposed upon by the Hamburg para- 
graph. I do not think him sufficiently cunning to have 
written it himself. He certainly appeared ridiculously 
disturbed at my return, and entirely departed from 
his silent circumspection, that he might discover, by 
questioning those whom he supposed Intimate with me, 
what were my intentions. Some of the numerous per- 
sons who do not love him, especially among the corps 
diplomatique, have amused themselves with Inventing 
tales relative to my views, similar to those of the 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 43 

''Thousand and One Nights." His brain is in a state 
of fermentation upon the subject; and the more so 
as he is acting out of character. I may in consequence 
of this be very ill-situated here. To prevent this you 
will take proper measures. I shall tell you more be- 
fore I seal this letter; he is not a person who will 
oppose the least ministerial insinuation. 



LETTER VII 

July 2zd, 1786. 

There is nobody here, consequently I shall for 
some days lead an inactive life. There is no Court, 
except that of Prince Ferdinand, which is always 
insignificant ; he is at present on the recovery. Prince 
Frederick of Brunswick knows nothing. The Eng- 
lish Embassy caress and suspect me. Count Hertz- 
berg still remains at Sans Souci; I must, therefore, 
satisfy myself with the sterility of the moment. I 
imagine I have discovered that the real occasion of 
the threatening declaration of Russia respecting Cour- 
land, was a secret proposal of marriage between the 
Countess of Wurtemberg, the natural daughter of 
the Duke, and a Prussian ; and the increasing intimacy 
of the Duke with the Heir Apparent, who has found 
in the purse of this savage Scythian that pecuniary aid 
with which he ought long since to have been supplied 
by France. The Duke of Courland departed, soon 
after the menace of Petersburg appeared, with his 
wife, who is said to be pregnant, to drink the Pyrmont 
waters. According to all appearances, instead of re- 
maining at Berlin on his return, he will go to Mittau. 
He still continues to make acquisitions in the Prussian 
dominions ; he has lately bought the county of Sagan, 
in Silesia; and the King, who was not a little vexed 



44 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

to see the Prince of Lobkowitz spend the revenues of 
this fine estate at Vienna, treats the Duke of Courland 
with great favour. Besides remitting the manor fees, 
he consented to aHenate or at least to entail the fief 
on female descendants, which before was revertible to 
the Crown on the want of male heirs; so that the 
Duke, who has no son, found that, by his carelessness, 
or a very strange kind of ignorance, he had risked 
six hundred thousand German crowns on a chance the 
most hazardous. 

It is indubitable that Prince Potemkin is, or appears 
to be, more in favor than ever. It has been found 
necessary to approve his disobedience. There are re- 
ports that he has sought a reconciliation with the 
Grand Duke, which he has accomplished. 

The new Minister of Petersburg (the son of Field- 
marshal Romanzow) is not successful here; intelli- 
gent people, however, affirm he possesses understand- 
ing and information. I know he has strong prejudices 
against me, which I shall endeavor to remove, and to 
gain his intimacy; for he is of such a nature that 
much may be derived from his acquaintance. But you 
must feel I stand in need of some instructions, or at 
least of a series of questions, which shall serve me as 
a compass, and by which I may obtain the customary 
intelligence. General politics have for some years 
been very incoherent, for want of possessing some 
fixed system. Which of the two alliances, that of the 
House of Austria, or that between the two Imperial 
Courts, Austria and Russia, ought to be regarded as 
stable, sacred, and subordinate to the other? Is 
France resolved to quit her natural train, I mean to say 
her continental system, for the maritime? If so, 
whether wisely or not, this will at least explain our 
extreme cautiousness, in what relates to the projects 
of the Court of Vienna. 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 45 

The man who wants this knowledge can do little 
more than wander at a venture ; he may, with more or 
less intelligence, write a gazette, but, not having a suffi- 
cient basis to build on, cannot be a negotiator. I en- 
treat it may not be supposed I have the presumption 
to interrogate; I only mean to explain, in very few 
words, such of the reasons which, exclusive of my own 
want of capacity, and of the few means my situation 
affords me, infinitely circumscribe that utility which 
I wish and labor to be of to my country. 

I hope I shall not be suspected of supposing any im- 
portance annexed to those extracts from the German 
newspapers, which I shall in future send by every 
courier. It is purely an object of curiosity, but which 
I thought might be agreeable in a country where, I 
believe, not a single German gazette is received; and 
into which so many ambassadors send no other dis- 
patches than those obtained on the authority of these 
gazettes. I shall only speak in my extracts of the 
news of the North. 

First Postscript. — Advice yesterday arrived com- 
manding Lord Dalrymple to depart, and bear the 
Order of the Garter to the Landgrave of Hesse Cassel. 

Second Postscript. — I have received a very 
friendly letter from Sans Souci. The King seems to 
hope he shall still live long ; he appears, however, to be 
much more occupied concerning himself and his pine- 
apples than by foreign affairs. Astonishment is testi- 
fied (this is a surprising affair!) though in a very 
obliging manner, that the son of the Comte de Ver- 
gennes should pass through Hamburg, Dresden, 
Vienna, etc., without any hope of seeing him at Berlin. 
I have answered I was very grateful, in behalf of my 
nation, for the importance annexed to the topographi- 



46 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

cal peregrination of the son of our Minister for For- 
eign Affairs, and that I imagined nothing could be 
more flattering to his father; but that, for my own 
part, I was wholly uninformed on the subject; though 
I was persuaded that, if the Court of Berlin was re- 
served as the last place to be visited, it would only be 
from a love of the Crescendo. I said the same to 
Count Goertz, by whom I was warmly questioned. 



LETTER VIII 

Berlin, July 26th, 1786. 
The fine weather supports the life of the King, but 
he is ill. On Wednesday he was for some minutes 
wheeled about in his chair, by which he w^as much 
incommoded, and suffered greatly during and after the 
exercise. His pains increased on Thursday, and yes- 
terday he was no better. I persist in my opinion that 
the period of his existence will be toward the month 
of September. 

The Heir Apparent does not quit Potsdam, where he 
keeps on the watch. Still the same respectful passion 
for Mademoiselle Voss. During a short journey that 
she lately made with her brother, a confidential valet de 
chamhrc followed her carriage at a distance, and if 
the beauty, who in my opinion is very ordinary, testi- 
fied the least desire (to eat w^hite bread, for example), 
before she had proceeded half a league she found 
everything she wished. It appears indubitable that she 
, has not yet yielded. No great use can be made either 
of her uncle or her brothers. Frenchwomen arrive 
daily; but I doubt much whether there will be any 
great advantage derived from them, except to inn- 
keepers and milliners. 

The Duke of Courland has lent the Heir Apparent 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 47 

money to pay his debts at Berlin ; they are supposed to 
be all discharged, except those of his Princess, which 
they are not very anxious to liquidate, from the fear 
of giving her bad habits. 

I have spoken at large with Struensee. He supposes 
the project of the bank to be a grand and superb opera- 
tion, which cannot but succeed. He asks timely infor- 
mation, and promises to place and cause to be placed in 
it a considerable sum; but the secret must only be 
known to him, and the subject treated only between 
ourselves. 



LETTER IX 

July z^st, 1786. 
• ••••••••••••• 

I SUPPOSE in reality that, in this commencement of 
correspondence, my letters are waited for, in order 
to write to me; however, if my letter of the 23d of 
July (Number V.) has been well deciphered and con- 
sidered, it cannot be disowned that I stand in need of 
instructions. Politics are at a crisis. I repeat, politics 
are at a crisis. It is impossible they should continue as 
they are, whether it be from endeavors to accelerate 
or efforts to retard. Everything denotes the Oriental 
system to increase in vigor. I have no doubt but that, 
soon or late, it will be destructive of that of the West; 
and the danger is immediate, is instantaneous. If 
Turkey in Europe, speaking in political and commer- 
cial language, be one of our colonies, if we are not 
resolved to leave it to its fate, is it not time to pay it 
some attention ? and because that it is so, is the general 
system of Europe out of the question? Were the 
King of Prussia ten years younger, he would well 
know how to restore the equilibrium, for he would 



48 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

take as much from Poland as others might take else- 
where ; but he dies and has no successor. For my own 
part, it is easy to conceive, I shall consume my time 
in barren efforts ; and, after taking much more trouble, 
shall be much less useful than if I knew what track to 
follow, and where to gain information. 

The King is in daily danger of death, though he 
may live some months. I persist in my autumnal prog- 
nostics. Prince Henry having sent for me to Rheins- 
berg by a very formal and friendly letter, it would 
appear affectation in me not to go ; and I shall set off 
on Wednesday, after the departure of the courier. I 
shall not remain there longer than a week, where I 
shall have good opportunities of intelligence concern- 
ing the state of the King, and of gaining information 
on various matters. 

Postscript. — The King is sensibly worse; he has 
had a fever these two days ; this may kill him, or pro- 
long his life. Nature has continually done so much for 
this extraordinary man, that nothing more is wanting 
to restore him than a hemorrhoidal eruption. The 
muscular powers are very great. 

The English Embassy has received advice from 
Vienna that the Emperor is in Transylvania, and that 
the world is ignorant of what he is doing, what he 
intends, or even to what place he is gone. 

All the boats on the Danube are taken into his ser- 
vke. 

The maritime company wishes to monopolize the 
sale of snuff and tobacco in Sweden, offering to pay 
half a million annually to the King; but the Swedish 
States have totally refused to forbid the cultivation 
of tobacco in the kingdom, and this was the condition, 
sine qua non. The actions of this Monarch decline 
greatly, on all occasions ; another Diet like the present, 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 49 

and monarchical power would once more fail in Swe- 
den. It appears to be undoubted that the rumor of his 
having turned Catholic, on his journey to Rome, has 
alienated the whole nation. But are we to impute noth- 
ing to the intrigues of Russia, in the present fermenta- 
tion? 

Struensee repeats that, if the bank be established, he 
and his friends are ready; that is to say, the most 
moneyed men in the kingdom, and probably, under 
a new reign, the Government itself. The man ought 
to be cherished. It would be of importance were I 
often empowered to give him good information respect- 
ing the state of the place. Meditate on this. His 
resources are in himself, and will probably survive his 
administration. He has gained immensely by specu- 
lating in the English funds. He ought to be weaned 
of this, to which he is self-inclined, for he feels and 
owns that chances in the English funds are exhausted 
for the remainder of his life. 



LETTER X 

August 2d, 1786. 
Written before my departure for Rheinsberg. 

The King is evidently better, at least with respect to 
pain, when he does not move; he has even left off 
the use of the taraxicum, or dandelion, the only thing 
Zimmermann prescribed, who, consequently, is in de- 
spair. He simply takes a tincture of rhubarb mixed 
with diarrhoetics, which gives him copious evacuations. 
His appetite is very good, which he indulges without 
restraint. The most unhealthy dishes are his greatest 



50 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

favorites. If indigestion be the consequence, as it fre- 
quently is, he takes a double aperitive dose. 

Frese, his physician of Potsdam, still continues in 
disgrace, for having dared to whisper the word dropsy 
on the question being asked him, and an appeal made 
to his conscience, what was the name and character of 
the disease. The King is exceedingly chilly, and is 
continually enveloped in furs, and covered by feather 
beds. He has not entered his bed these six weeks, but 
is removed from one armchair to another, in which he 
takes tolerably long sleeps, turned on his right side. 
Inflation augments ; the scrotum is exceedingly tumid. 
He perceives this, but will not persuade himself, or 
appear to believe, that it is anything more than the 
inflated of convalescence, and the result of great 
feebleness. 

This information is minutely exact, and very recent. 
There is no doubt of his unwillingness to die. The 
people best informed think that, as soon as he believes 
himself really dropsical and at the point of death, he 
will submit to be tapped, and to the most violent 
remedies, rather than peaceably resign himself to sleep 
with his fathers. He even desired, some time since, 
incisions might be made in his hams and thighs ; but the 
physician feared to risk them. With respect to his 
understanding, it is still sound ; and he even continues 
his labors. 



LETTER XI 

August %th, 1/86. 
The King is dangerously ill; some affirm he has not 
many hours to live, but this probably partakes of 
exaggeration. On the fourth, the erysipelas with 
blisters on the legs made their appearance ; this prog- 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 51 

nosticates bursting, and soon after gangrene. At pres- 
ent there is suffocation, and a most infectious smell. 
The smallest fever — and the curtain must drop. 



LETTER XII 

August i2th, 1786. 
The King is apparently much better. The evacuation, 
which was the consequence of the apertures in his 
legs, has caused the swelling to abate, and given ease ; 
but has been followed by a dangerous excess of ap- 
prtite. He cannot continue in this state. You may 
expect to receive a grand packet at my return from 
Rheinsberg. 



LETTER XIII 

August isth, 1786. 
I AM just returned from Rheinsberg, where I have 
lived in the utmost familiarity with Prince Henry. 
I have numerous modes of communication, which will 
develop themselves as time and opportunity shall serve ; 
at present I shall only state consequences. 

Prince Henry is in the utmost incertitude, concern- 
ing what he shall or shall not be under the new reign. 
He greatly dreads, and more than he wishes to appear 
to dread, though his fears are very visible, the in- 
fluence of Count Hertzberg, who is still detained at 
Sans Souci, but, as I think, only for the sake of his 
conversation, — at least, as far as respects the old King. 
This Count Hertzberg has openly espoused the English 
system; but, though the flatteries of Ewart and his 
secret arts have much profited by the long contempt in 
which the French Embassy have held this Minister, I 



52 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

believe his principal reason for attaching himself to 
England is because Prince Henry, his implacable 
enemy, is the avowed and fanatical protector of the 
French system; and because the Count imagines he 
cannot otherwise make himself indispensably necessary 
to the opposite party ; for which reason he clothes him- 
self in the uniform of the Stadtholder. 

In consequence of this, and persuaded as I am that 
Prince Henry has not sufficient influence over the suc- 
cessor (who is weary of avuncular despotism) to dis- 
place Hertzberg, who will continually batter his enemy 
in breach, by boasting, by meannesses, by a faithful 
portrait of the Prince's creatures, and by the jealousy 
with which he will inspire the new King against Prince 
Henry, who, if he be anything, will be master; con- 
vinced also that he (Hertzberg) is useful to France, 
which is influenced by the uncle because he holds the 
English system in abhorrence I have exerted every 
effort to induce Prince Henry (who wants nothing but 
dissimulation) to reconcile himself with Count Hertz- 
berg, and thus put his nephew out of fear. This he 
might with the greater security do, because Hertzberg, 
relative to him, could be nothing more than a first 
clerk, who, if he should act uprightly, would make as 
good a clerk as another; and who, should he endeavor 
to deceive, might be the more easily crushed after 
having been admitted a colleague. 

I have had much difficulty in persuading him, for 
Baron Knyphausen, the brother-in-law of Hertzberg, 
and his irreconcilable enemy, because that their in- 
terests clash, is possessed of the entire political con- 
fidence of the Prince, of which he is worthy, for 
he is a very able man, and perhaps the only able 
man in Prussia; but as he is in danger of a con- 
firmed palsy as his mind and body both decay, and 
as the Prince himself perceives they do, I was able 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 53 

to effect my purpose by dwelling on all these circum- 
stances, while I heaped exaggerated praise on Baron 
Knyphausen, and expressed infinite regret for his sit- 
uation ; so that I have prevailed on the Prince, and have 
personally received a commission to negotiate an ac- 
commodation between him and Hertzberg; for which 
purpose I shall go the day after to-morrow to Pots- 
dam. 

What may I augur from all this? Weakness only 
and incoherency. It appears indubitable that petty 
cabals, the fine arts, the blues, the subalterns, the ward- 
robe, and particularly the mystics, will engross the new. 
King. I have anecdotes innumerable on the subject 
by which I shall endeavor to profit, and which I shall 
communicate in good time. Has he any system? I 
believe not. Any understanding? Of that I doubt. 
Any character? I cannot tell; my present opinion is 
that no conclusions, for or against, ought yet to be 
drawn. 

To memorials exceedingly well drawn up by 
Prince Henry and Baron Knyphausen, all tending to 
demonstrate that, should Prussia attach itself to the 
English system, fifteen years hence Frederick William 
will be the Marquis of Brandenburg, he gives replies 
which are slow, vague, laconic, and hieroglyphic. He 
wrote the other day, for example (I saw the letter), 
" The Prince of the Asturias is all English." 
Baron Boden, however, who is his confidential corre- 
spondent, and who has lately remained shut up with him 
a whole week in his garden at Potsdam, has protested 
that the dispositions of the successor are wholly 
French, and that he had charged him to endeavor 
to convert Hertzberg. Remark this. Remark, still 
further, that Boden is a man of low cunning, who may 
wish to deceive Prince Henry, in whose service he for- 
merly was, with whom he quarreled, and to whom he is 



54 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

now reconciled, — Heaven knows by what means. 
Observe, once again, that the Prince of Sahn-Kirburg 
has also been (nearly about the same time) a week 
concealed at Potsdam. What inconsistency? 

It is the advice of Prince Henry that Boden, who is 
returned to Paris, should be tampered with. He also 
wishes (for your great men do not disdain little 
means) that a lady should be sent hither, of a fair com- 
plexion, rather fat, and with some musical talents, who 
should pretend to come from Italy, or anywhere but 
France; who shall have had no public amour; who 
should appear rather disposed to grant favors than 
to display her poverty, etc., etc. Some elegant trifles 
would not be amiss, but take care not to forget the 
man is avaricious. The French letters, at least those 
which I shall show, ought to speak well of him, and to 
report that the King has spoken favorably of him; 
particularly that he has said : " This Prince, like me, 
will be a worthy man." Repetition might be made of 
the success of Prince Henry in France; but in this I 
would advise moderation, for I believe Prince Henry 
has spoken too much himself on that subject; he has 
pretended to prophesy concerning the new reign, and 
predictions are disagreeable. Let me add it is aflirmed 
that, could the new King be gained, he would become 
the most faithful and the most fervent of allies; to 
this uncle Henry pledges his honor and his head; 
and, indeed, the Prince of Prussia has never for- 
feited his word. It is added, as you may well believe, 
that it is neither possible nor proper to require more, 
for in fine we are suspected, and with good reason, etc., 
etc. 

You will imagine France has not been thus treated 
without any pleadings in the behalf of Prussia; and 
the advocates have pretended to prove (the map on the 
table), alike by military and political details, that the 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 55 

alliance of Prussia would be much more effectual to 
France, against England, than that of Austria. If it 
be requested, I will draw up a memorial, according to 
the grounds that have been given me. Nor is it at all 
required that we should quarrel with Vienna; nothing 
more is asked than a treaty of confraternity, agreeable 
to the guarantee of the treaty of Westphalia ; a treaty 
well known at all Courts, and wnth this only secret 
article that, should there be any infringement of the 
peace, we then should go further; and if at the present 
a treaty should be refused, reciprocal letters between 
the two Kings, sealed and so left till some event should 
happen, would be deemed satisfactory. In short, a 
pledge is demanded against the Austrian system; and 
the written word of honor of the King of France will 
be accepted. No subsidies are or will in any case be 
asked; perhaps even Prussia will pay subsidies to 
Brunswick and Hesse. Great complaints are made 
of France for having permitted and even favored the 
German confederation. '' For must not Germany, 
soon or late, assume some consistent form? Must not 
Prussia acquire a frontier? And what other means 
are there than those of secularization, which by this 
confederacy are interdicted? How otherwise arrange 
the affairs of Saxony than by Westphalia and Liege? " 
This latter phrase appeared to me very remarkable. 

I do not nor cannot at present mean to send any- 
thing more than the great outlines. Prince Henry is 
French, and so will live and die. Will he have any 
influence? I know not. He is too pompous; and the 
Duke of Brunswick, of a very different complexion, is 
the man necessary to the King and the country, though 
he is not loved by the former. However, I am sup- 
plied with the secret means of correspondence, inquiry, 
and success ; and it could not be more made a common 



56 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

cause between us. I am promised that my services to 
my country shall be amply repaid on the day an al- 
liance is concluded with France, etc., etc. 

I forgot a curious fact. The Heir Apparent wrote 
to Boden, before his journey to Berlin, to inquire what 
the people of Paris thought of him. " That you will 
be feeble, indolent, and governed," was the substance 
of Boden's reply. The Prince, as he read the letter, 
stamped with his foot, and exclaimed: "I have 
suffered by myself and I will reign by myself." 

Postscript. — By the natural discharge of the water 
from the legs, which may be calculated at a pint per 
diem, the swelling of the scrotum has disappeared ; the 
patient imagines the general inflation is diminished. 
It is probable he is feverish every night ; but of this he 
endeavors to remain ignorant. His appetite is so ex- 
traordinary that he generally eats ten or twelve of the 
highest dishes. His supper and breakfast consist of 
smoked tongues, bread, butter, and a large quantity of 
pepper. If he feels his stomach oppressed by its load, 
which is usually the case, he has recourse an hour or 
two after dinner to a dose of anima rhei. He wishes 
to have six or seven motions in the twenty- four hours, 
exclusive of clysters. From all this you may gather 
the result, which is that we are incontestibly at the 
last scene, more or less protracted. 



LETTER XIV 

August 17 th, 1786. 
All is over! — Frederick William reigns — and one of 
the grandest characters that ever occupied the throne 
has burst one of the finest molds that nature ever 
organized ! 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 57 

The vanity of friendship was highly interested that 
you should be the first informed of this event ; and my 
measures were all most carefully taken. On Wednes- 
day, at eight in the morning, I knew he was as ill as 
possible; that the preceding day the hour of appoint- 
ment for the day following was noon, instead of eleven 
o'clock, as was before customary; that he had not 
spoken to his secretaries till midday, who had been 
waiting from five in the morning; that, however, the 
dispatches had been clear and precise ; and that he still 
had eaten excessively, and particularly a lobster. I 
further knew that the prodigious foulness of the 
sick chamber, and the damp clothes of the patient, 
which he wore without changing, appeared to have 
brought on a species of putrid fever ; that the slumbers 
of this Wednesday approached lethargy; that every 
symptom foreboded an apoplectic dropsy, a dissolution 
of the brain ; and that, in fine, the scene must close in 
a few hours. 

At one o'clock I took an airing on horseback, on the 
road to Potsdam, impelled by I know not what fore- 
boding, and also to observe the meanderings of the 
river, which is on the right, when a groom, riding full 
speed, came for the physician Zelle, who received 
orders to make all haste, and who instantly departed. 
I soon was informed that the groom had killed a 
horse. 

I was thrown into some perplexity. That the city 
gates would be shut was certain; it was even possible 
that the drawbridges of the island of Potsdam would 
be raised the moment death should take place, and 
should this happen my uncertainty would continue as 
long as it should please the new King. On the first 
supposition — how send off a courier? There were no 
means of scaling the ramparts or the palisades, with- 
out being exposed to a fray, for there are sentinels at 



58 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

every forty paces behind the paHsades, and at every 
fifty behind the wall. What was to be done? I had 
not received, could not receive any orders ; I could only 
use my own resources. And ought I to expose myself 
to ridicule, by sending intelligence already known, or 
concerning an event so well foreseen? Was the loss 
or gain of a week worth the expense of a courier? 
Had I been Ambassador, the certain symptoms of mor- 
tality would have determined me to have sent off an 
express before death. For what addition was the 
word death? How was I to act in my present situa- 
tion? It certainly w^as most important to serve, and 
not merely to appear to have served. I hastened to 
the French Ambassador. He was not at home; he 
dined at Charlottenburg. No means of joining him at 
Berlin. I dressed myself, hurried to Schoenhausen, 
and arrived at the palace of the Queen as soon as the 
Ambassador. He had not been informed of particu- 
lars, and did not imagine the King was so ill; not a 
Minister believed it; the Queen had no suspicion of it; 
she only spoke to me of my dress, of Rheinsberg, and 
of the happiness she had there enjoyed when Princess 
Royal. Lord Dalrymple, with whom I was too in- 
timate to admit of dissembling what my opinion was, 
assured me I was deceived. " That may be," replied 
I ; but I whispered to our Ambassador that I had my 
intelligence from the sick couch, and that he ought to 
believe stock-jobbers had as good information as the 
diplomatic body. I know not whether he believed me ; 
but, like me, he would not sit down to play, and left 
the company soon enough to send news of the ap- 
proach of death. 

I still had great reason to be diffident of the activity 
of our Embassy. How did I act? I sent a man, on 
whom I could depend, with a strong and swift horse 
to a farm, four miles from Berlin, from the master of 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 59 

which I had some days before received two pairs of 
pigeons, an experiment on the flight of which had been 
made; so that, unless the bridges of the isle of Pots- 
dam were raised, I acted with certainty; and, that I 
might not have a single chance against me, for I 
thought the news tardy in arriving, I sent M. de Nolde 
by the daily stage, with orders to wait at the bridge of 
the island. He was acquainted with the station of my 
other man; the raising of the bridges would speak 
plainly enough; he had money sufficient to push for- 
ward; there was no human power apparently that 
could counteract me, for my gentry had not a single 
Prussian post to pass, and were to proceed to Saxony, 
taking care not to go through any fortified place; 
and they had their route ready traced. 

M. de Nolde was departing at half past six in the 
morning, with the stage, when, General Goertiz, aide- 
de-camp to the late King, arriving full speed, called 
aloud : " In the King's name, lower the portcullis," 
and M. de Nolde was obliged to turn back! Five 
minutes after, I was on horseback; my horses had 
passed the night saddled ; and, that I might omit noth- 
ing, I hastened to the French Ambassador. He was 
asleep. I wrote to him immediately that I knew a cer- 
tain mode of conveyance, if he had anything to send. 
He answered, and I keep his note as a curious proof if, 
which, however, to me appears impossible, the Comte 
de Vergennes keeps no courier, — " The Comte d'Es- 
terno has the honor to return thanks to Mirabeau, but 
cannot profit by his obliging offer." 

I then reflected, either he had sent off a courier, who 
only could convey the news of the King's extreme 
danger, consequently there must be something to add, 
or he had received orders not to send any; otherwise 
his apathy was wholly inconceivable. I, moreover, 
knew that the Saxon envoy had sent off his chasseur 



6o MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

on the eve, so that he was twenty hours and forty 
leagues in advance with me; it therefore was wholly 
improbable that M. de Vibraye at Dresden should 
not hear of the King's danger. The same might be 
conjectured of the aide-de-camp Whittinkoff, who 
bore the news to the Duchess Dowager of Brunswick, 
and would certainly spread it, so that nothing was left 
for me till absolute death should happen. After con- 
sidering, I did not find we were rich enough to throw 
a hundred guineas away; I therefore renounced all 
my fine projects, which had cost me some thought, 
some trouble, and some guineas; and I let fly my 
pigeons to my man with the word return. 

Have I done well, or ill ? Of this I am ignorant ; but 
I had no express orders, and sometimes works of 
supererogation gain but little applause. I have thought 
it my duty to send you this account; first, because it 
may be of service (observe that several prizes have 
thus been gained) ; and secondly, to prove that I 
wanted neither zeal or activity, but effrontery. 

The new King remained all Thursday at Sans Souci, 
in the apartment of General Moellendorf. His first 
act of sovereignty was to bestow the order of the 
Black Eagle on Count Hertzberg. At five in the 
morning, his Majesty was busy with the secretaries of 
, the late King. This morning he was on horseback in 
the streets of Berlin, accompanied by his eldest son. 
Thursday presented a spectacle worthy of observation. 

There were many wet eyes, even among the foreign 
Ambassadors; for they were all present, the French 
excepted, when the troops took the oath of allegiance. 

The ceremony is awful, and would be more so if the 
oath, which the soldiers repeat word by word, were 
not so long. Yet this vast military paraphernalia, 
that multitude of soldiers, who all the morning 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 6i 

swarmed in the streets, and the precipitate adminis- 
tering of the legionary oath, seem but to me too ex- 
clusively to proclaim the military power; seem but to 

say: I AM MORE ESPECIALLY THE KiNG OF THE SOL- 
DIERS. I COMMIT MYSELF TO MY ARMY, BECAUSE I 
AM NOT CERTAIN OF POSSESSING A KINGDOM. I am 

persuaded these military forms will be mitigated under 
the new reign. 



LETTER XV 

August iSthj 1786. 
Prince Henry received information of the decease 
somewhat late; not till yesterday, the seventeenth, at 
midnight. But this, perhaps, was occasioned by their 
desire to send him one of his favorite officers, who 
was a very bad horseman. The letter of the King was 
a page and a half in length, written by his own hand, 
and inviting the Prince to come, who arrived to-day at 
three in the afternoon. As soon as it was dark, his 
aide-de-camp came for me; and what follows is the 
substance of the Prince's narrative. 

He has had an interview of an hour and a half with 
the King, but is no further advanced in the knowledge 
of what he shall hereafter be. The King was devoid 
of ostentation in his behavior to his family; and was 
very much moved with the Prince, says the latter, but 
no way communicative. The uncle only attempted to 
speak of foreign politics. His request in behalf of 
his favorite, Tauensien, captain and aide-de-camp to 
his Royal Highness, was immediately granted. 

" Resolved on the French system, but desirous of 
seeing — " "Why?" " Dignity, prudence, the alarm- 
ing discontents of Holland." " Are you brother or 
King? as brother interest yourself; as King do not 



62 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

interfere, you will but have the greater influence." 
" Your father, whose name you cannot pronounce 
without weeping, was as much French as I am; this 
I will demonstrate by his letters." " Oh, I have seen 
proofs of that," replied the King, " in those of the 
Queen of Sweden." 

" Vienna." " Advances it is supposed w^ill be made ; 
they will be accepted; the war of peace will actually 
be concluded." 

" The English system? " " God preserve me from 
it! " " Russia? " " It has scarcely been thought on." 

The whole day passed in well-managed artifice. 
The King was on horseback with his eldest son; he 
addressed his generals with caresses of every kind: 
"If you serve less faithfully than formerly, I, by 
being obliged to punish, shall be the person punished." 
He spoke a little more seriously to the Ministers, with 
whom, notwithstanding, he dined. Severely to the 
secretaries — " I well know you have been guilty of 
'indiscretions; I would advise you to change your 
behavior." 

Hertzberg hitherto preserves all his consequence. 
The King has not once pronounced his name to Prince 
Henry, nor the Prince to the King. His Majesty, 
however, tenderly embraced Count Finckenstein, a 
true French knight-errant, and the only person, after 
Knyphausen, in whom Prince Henry confides; that is 
to say, willingly. " I thank you," said the King, '' for 
the eminent services you have been so indefatigable 
in rendering my uncle; and I request you will act in 
the same manner for my interest." It is to be noted 
that Count Finckenstein is the implacable enemy of 
Hertzberg, but the uncle of the dearly beloved Made- 
moiselle Voss. 

The will is to be opened to-morrow, in presence of 
those interested. The King will not attempt to alter 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 63 

a single line, one article excepted, the necessity of 
erasing which he will submit to his uncles. The old 
Monarch has been generous. He has bequeathed 
Prince Henry two hundred thousand crowns and a 
handsome ring, exclusive of what will revert to him 
by the family agreement. The rest are likewise well 
treated, but not so magnificently. 

The funeral ceremony afforded Prince Henry a 
proper excuse for remaining; it is to be performed at 
Potsdam. The King will depart thence to receive 
homage in Prussia and Silesia; this is an old custom 
of the country. Prince Henry will come to an ex- 
planation previous to his journey; but he is determined 
to wait as long as possible, that the King may begin 
the subject himself. 

Speaking of me, his Majesty said : " I suspect he is 
ordered to observe me ; his love for the Emperor prob- 
ably will not expose him to the temptation of speaking 
ill of me, when there is nothing ill to be spoken." 

Prince Henry fears that, the mode of life excepted, 
the method and especially the ceremonies of Govern- 
ment will be continued. He has charged me to men- 
tion that Comte d'Esterno is much too cold, too dis- 
tant, too entirely an Ambassador, for the new King. 
He entreats our Ministry not to be tedious in bargain- 
ing concerning the pledges of confidence. 

It is said, and I forgot to ask Prince Henry, who 
perhaps does not know, whether it be or be not true, 
that the King has sent for the Duke of Brunswick. 
The Minister, Schulemburg, is in danger. Prince 
Henry, by whom he has so long been hated and de- 
cried, is resolved to give him support. Schulemburg 
returned only this morning. He has composed, or 
rather made Struensee compose, an apologetic me- 
morial, adroit and sophistical, in which he has imputed 
to the late King that order of affairs which he pro- 



64 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

poses to remedy. He declaims against monopolies, — 
he, who is himself at the head of all the monopolies; 
but he endeavors to prove they cannot be suddenly 
reformed, especially that of the maritime company. 



LETTER XVI 

August 22d, 1786. 

Prince Henry is singularly well satisfied with the 
new King, who the day before yesterday (Sunday) 
spent the greatest part of the afternoon with his uncle. 
The latter went to him in the morning to know the 
watchword. He pretends his nephew indicates an 
entire confidence in him ; but I fear he interprets com- 
pliments into pledges of trust. He affirms the down- 
fall of Hertzberg approaches; this I do not believe. 
" I and my nephew," said the Prince, " have been very 
explicit;" but I doubt the nephew has deceived the 
uncle. The conciliating temper of the King, and his 
good-nature, which induce him to receive all with 
kindness, may likewise lead to error, without intend- 
ing deception; and these rather prove he possesses 
sensibility than strength of mind. 

Prince Henry affirms that the King is entirely 
French. He requests that no attention may be paid to 
the sending of Colonel or Major Geysau to London, 
with accession compliments; these, he affirms, relate 
only to the family. The King has besides been de- 
ceived; he was told that the Court of St. James had 
sent compliments at the death of King George, which 
is not true. This, it is added, is an artifice of Count 
Hertzberg. Prince Henry did not arrive soon enough 
to prevent the thing being done; were it to do again 
it should be otherwise. (Remark, it is the Prince him- 
self who speaks.) No one has been sent either to 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 63 

Vienna or to Petersburg. (Not to Vienna, to the 
chief of the Empire, who is almost as near a relation 
as the King of England. And as to Petersburg, Ro- 
manzow has made such bitter complaints that Count 
Finckenstein, moderate as he is, demanded whether 
he had received orders from his Court to speak in 
that style.) But it is singular enough that envoys 
have been sent everywhere else; and particularly 
Count Charles Podewils (brother to him who is at 
Vienna) is gone to bear the news to Sweden. This 
is departing from the old system, to which, it is said, 
the King means, in other respects, to adhere ; for the 
King of Sweden was held in aversion by the late 
King; nor is he less hated by Prince Henry. Count 
Stein, a kind of domestic favorite, is gone to Saxony, 
Weymar, Deux-Ponts, etc. 

Prince Henry wishes the Minister for Foreign Af- 
fairs should write, and immediately, that the Court of 
France hopes the new King will confirm the friendship 
his predecessor began ; and should give it to be under- 
stood that all the Prussian Ministers are not supposed 
to mean as well, toward France, as the King himself 
(I am not at all of this opinion; for this would be to 
distinguish Hertzberg, and to render the war against 
our Cabinet more inveterate. If the downfall of this 
Minister be necessary, it can be effected only by taxing 
him with governing the King), and that the recipro- 
city of good will and good offices may, and ought to, 
produce a more intimate connection. He wishes M. 
de Calonne might write soon to him (Prince Henry) 
a friendly and ostensible letter, but which ought to be 
sent by safe hands; that it should be recommended 
to Comte d'Esterno to smooth his brow; and he is 
particularly desirous a mode of somewhat calming the 
affairs of Holland should be found, and that this act 
should be much praised and insisted on. 



66 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

The Duke of Brunswick has been sent for, and is 
to arrive on Thursday. It is said he brings another 
will, which was deposited in his hands. The first was 
not read before the family, but only in presence of the 
two uncles and the two Ministers. The legatees have 
all received their bequests. The date of this will is 
1769. It is in a pompous style, and is wTitten with 
labor and declamation. The King has been exceed- 
ingly attentive to specify that his legacies are made 
from the savings of his privy purse. 

The following is a sketch of his donations: The 
Queen has an annual augmentation to her income of 
ten thousand crowns. Prince Henry has the gross 
sum of two hundred thousand crowns, a large green 
diamond, a luster of rock crystal estimated at fifteen 
thousand crowns, a set of eight coach horses, two led 
horses richly caparisoned, and fifty anteaux, or small 
casks of Hungarian wine. Prince Ferdinand the gross 
sum of fifty thousand crowns, and some Hungarian 
wine. Princess Ferdinand ten thousand crowns an- 
nually (the reason of this was that, in 1769, she was 
the only Princess of her house who had any children), 
and a box. Princess Henry six thousand crowns an- 
nually. The Duchess Dowager of Brunswick ten 
thousand crowns annually. The Princess Amelia ten 
thousand crowns annually, and all the personal plate 
of the late King. The Princess of Wurtemberg the 
gross sum of twenty thousand crowns. The Duke of 
Wurtemberg a ring. The Landgrave of Hesse the 
gross sum of ten thousand crowns. Prince Frederick 
of Brunswick the same. The reigning Duke of 
Brunswick the same, with eight horses (among others, 
the last that Frederick mounted) and a diamond ring, 
estimated at twenty-two thousand crowns, etc., etc., etc. 

The King has confirmed all this with a very good 
grace. The only article that he will not agree to was 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 67 

a strange whim of the late King, relative to the inter- 
ment of his body; he wished to be buried beside his 
dogs. Such is the last mark of contempt which he 
thought proper to cast upon mankind. I know not 
whether the will that is coming will be equally re- 
spected with that already opened, even though they 
should not be contradictory. 

As to the situation of the Court, I believe the truth 
to be that Prince Henry exaggerates his ascendency; 
and that he is in absolute ignorance of the King's in- 
tentions. They prattle much together, but there is no 
single point on which they have yet come to any stipu- 
lation. True it is that five days are scarcely yet 
elapsed. But wherefore presume? The Prince sup- 
ports the Minister, Schulemburg; and I know that 
Schulemburg found the King dry and cold. He had 
one choice for the French Embassy; and I know the 
King has another, which he has not even concealed 
from the Prince. The Monarch hears all, but is in 
nothing explicit. Bishops werder himself perhaps does 
not know what he is to be, and if he be prudent, will 
not be in too great haste. 

I have twice seen Count Hertzberg, and found him 
still the same, a small portion of dissimulation ex- 
cepted. He very positively denied being English. He 
does not seem to me to think he has the least need of 
Prince Henry, whom he has not been to visit (which 
is very marked, or rather indecent behavior) since 
his promotion to the Order of the Black Eagle. I 
wished to insinuate to him that it would be easy to 
consult the uncle by the aid of the nephew; this he 
declined, but gave me an apologetic memorial for 
Prince Henry, relative to his personal discussions with 
Baron Knyphausen. Either Prince Henry or Hertz- 
berg, or both, are much deceived. Hertzberg certainly 
sups almost every night with the King; and the opin- 

3 — ^Memoirs Vol. 5 



68 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

ion of some well-informed people is that this Minister, 
and General Moellendorf, will be appointed to educate 
the Prince of Prussia. 

The Marquis of Luchesini is continued in his place 
by the present King; but hitherto he has only been 
desired to write the poem for the funeral. The sec- 
retary of Prince Henry, it is said, is to compose the 
music; and this is one of the things which turn the 
uncle's brain. 

I have sent the King my grand Memorial; he has 
only acknowledge having received it, adding that I 
might remain persuaded whatever should come from 
me would give him pleasure; and that, of all the oblig- 
ing things that were said to him, none flattered him 
more highly than mine. 

P. S. — The Ministers took the oath of allegiance 
yesterday, about three o'clock; hence, no probable 
changes for some time to come. Count Arnim Boyt- 
zemburg, sent for by the King, arrived with all haste, 
and passed the evening with his Majesty. I believe 
him proper for nothing but a place about Court; it 
may, however, have relation to the Embassy to France, 
but more probably to the place of Grand Marshal, or 
that of Minister of the Landschafft, a kind of presi- 
» dent of the provinces, who greatly influences the as- 
sessments of the taxes, and other internal arrange- 
ments. 



LETTER XVn 

August 26th, 1786. 
I FEAR my prophecies will be accomplished. Prince 
Henry appears to me to have gained nothing but 
bows from his nephew. One article of the will of 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 69 

the King's grandfather disposed of the succession of 
certain bailliages, so as to bequeath an accession of 
income, of about forty or fifty thousand crowns, to 
Prince Henry, including an augmentation of the rev- 
enue of Prince Ferdinand. Circumstances not being 
exactly the same now as supposed by the testator, the 
Ministers (that is to say, Hertzberg) have pretended 
that this bequest no longer was legal; and the King, 
eluding to grant the legacy, has made a proposal to 
his uncle to have the suit determined either in Ger- 
many, France or Italy. The Prince has written an 
ingenious and noble letter to him, but in which he in- 
dicates the enemy. The King has redoubled his out- 
ward caresses for his uncle, and has submitted to 
three judges, who have been nominated by the Prince. 
I hence conclude that the uncle will gain the suit of 
the hailliages, but never that of the regency. 

Hertzberg, however, has commissioned me to make 
some advances from himself to the Prince, and this I 
think is a sign that he is not in perfect security. I 
never could prevail on the Prince to comply; some- 
times inflated, sometimes agitated, he neither could 
command his countenance nor his first emotions. He 
is deceitful, yet knows not how to dissemble ; endowed 
with ideas, wit, and even a portion of understanding, 
but has not a single opinion of his own. Petty means, 
petty councils, petty passions, petty prospects; all is 
diminutive in the soul of that man. While he makes 
gigantic pretensions, he has a mind without method; 
is as haughty as an upstart, and as vain as a man who 
had no claim to respect; he can neither lead nor be 
led. He is one of too frequent examples that insignifi- 
cance of character may stifle the greatest qualities. 

The thing the new King fears the most is being 
thought to be governed; and in this respect Prince 
Henry, of all men, is the least adapted to the Mon- 



70 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

arch; who I believe would consent not to reign, pro- 
vided he might only be supposed to reign. 

Remarkable change! The general directory is re- 
stored to the footing on which it was under Frederick 
William I. This is a wise act. The result of the mad- 
ness of innovation, under Frederick II., was that, of 
all the Kings in Europe, he was the most deceived. 
The mania of expediting the whole affairs of a king- 
dom in one hour and a half was the cause that the 
Ministers were each of them absolute in their depart- 
ments. At present, all must be determined in a com- 
mittee; each will have occasion of the consent and 
sanction of all the rest. In a word, it is a kind of 
Council. This, no doubt, will have its inconveniences ; 
but how are inconveniences to be avoided? 

The edict for suppressing the Lotto is signed, as I 
am assured. I shall at least have done this much good 
to the country. But the King has permitted the last 
drawing, which is wrong; there ought to have been 
none under his reign. Perhaps it is only popular 
report. 

The Duke of Brunswick arrived this evening. M. 
Ardenberg-Reventlau, a man of merit and his favor- 
ite Minister — though M. Feronce is the principal — 
preceded him, and was here at a quarter after four. 
The Duke was admitted to see his Majesty, who rises 
at four o'clock; at half after six he was on the parade. 
The King received him with neither distance nor ar- 
dor. Perhaps nothing more is meant by this journey 
than politeness. Necessity only could make such a 
man Prime Minister, who will not trouble himself 
with fruitless efforts, but who will be very tenacious 
in his grasp. I shall not converse with him till to- 
morrow. The will he brings will probably be burned ; 
it is said to be of a much earlier date than the other, 
and as far back as 1755. 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 71 

The Landgrave of Hesse Cassel, it is affirmed, is 
coming; also the Duke of Weymar, the Prince de 
Deux-Ponts, and even the Duke of York. Of the lat- 
ter I doubt. 

Hertzberg pretends that the King, by becoming the 
pledge of the Stadtholder, ought to make us easy con- 
cerning Holland, but he has not told us who shall 
make the pledge respected. 

Prince Henry wishes advice should be sent that 
Count Hertzberg, who has not the good word of the 
world, appears to have gained the entire confidence 
of the King, and even to act the master. This last 
imputation is probably the most effectual method to 
procure the downfall of any man, under the present 
sign. 

There are many small Court favors granted, but no 
considerable place bestowed. I have attempted to 
reconcile Hertzberg and Knyphausen, which I was in 
a train to accomplish, by demonstrating to them that 
their coalition would erect a throne which could not 
be shaken. Knyphausen refused, because, alleged he, 
Hertzberg is so deceitful it can never be known 
whether the reconciliation is or is not sincere ; " and 
it is better," said the Baron, " to be the open enemy 
than the equivocal friend of a man whose credit is 
superior to our own." 

I am inclined to think Hertzberg must be displaced, 
if we wish the Prussians should become French. 
Three months are necessary to draw any conclusions 
that should be at all reasonable. I again repeat, if 
you have any grand political views, relative to this 
country and Germany, put an end to the democratical 
quarrels of Holland; which are only the disputes of 
cunning, profitable to those who have their fortunes to 
make, but not to those whose fortunes are made. 



^^2 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

LETTER XVIII 

August 2gth, 1786. 
To PROPHESY here daily becomes more- difficult ; time 
only can afford any rational prognostics. The King 
apparently intends to renounce all his old habits; 
this is a proud undertaking. He has made three visits 
to Schoenhausen, nor has he cast one look on Made- 
moiselle Voss; no semblance of an orgia; not one 
woman's bosom touched since he has sat on the throne. 
One of his confidants proposed a visit to Charlotten- 
burg. " No," replied he ; " all my former allurements 
are there." He retires before ten in the evening, and 
rises at four ; he works excessively, and certainly with 
some difficulty. Should he persevere, he will afford 
a singular example of habits of thirty years being 
vanquished. This will be an indubitable proof of a 
grand character, and show how we have all been mis- 
taken. But even, the supposition granted, which is so 
far from probable, how deficient are his understand- 
ing and his means. I say how deficient, since even his 
most ecstatic panegyrists begin by giving up his under- 
standing. The last day that he exercised the troops 
he was ridiculously slow, heavy, and monotonous. 
The men were four times ranged in columns, and con- 
cluded with parading. This continued three hours, 
and in the presence of a general such as is the Duke 
of Brunswick. Everybody was dissatisfied. Yester- 
day, the first Court day, he was ill; he forgot some of 
the foreign Ministers, and uttered nothing but a few 
commonplace phrases, hasty, embarrassed, and ill- 
chosen ; this scarcely continued five minutes. He im- 
mediately left us to go to church; for he does not 
miss church ; and religious zeal, hpmilies, and pulpit 
flatteries already begin to be everywhere heard and seen. 
Prince Henry has gained his suit, concerning the 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 73 

hailliages, as I had foreseen ; in other respects, he has 
not advanced a step, consequently has gone backward. 
He dines every day with the King, and does wrong; 
he affects to whisper with him, and does wrong; he 
speaks to him of pubHc affairs incessantly, and does 
wrong. The King goes alone to visit the Duke of 
Brunswick; and also goes in company with Hertz- 
berg, or meets him at the Duke's. The latter pretends 
to interfere only with the army, — the sole thing which, 
according to him, he understands. I have never yet 
seen him in private, but he has appointed me an audi- 
ence on Wednesday morning. 

The EngHsh faction continues very active, and this 
proves there are difficulties to encounter. In reality, 
it is an alliance so unnatural, when compared to ours, 
that it seems to me we should not suffer ourselves, 
though the King should commit blunders, to be routed 
by his mistakes. 

The Monarch becomes very difficult effectually to 
observe. He reverts to the severe ceremonies of Ger- 
man etiquette. It is imagined he will not receive for- 
eigners, at least for some time. I know all that can 
be learned from subaltern spies; from valets, court- 
iers, secretaries, and the intemperate tongue of Prince 
Henry; but there are only two modes of influencing, — 
which are to give, or rather to give birth to, ideas in 
the master, or in his Ministers. In the master ! How, 
since he is not to be approached? In the Ministers! 
It is neither very easy nor very prudent to speak to 
them on public affairs, I not being in a public char- 
acter; and the discussions which chance affords are 
short, vague, and incomplete. If I am supposed ca- 
pable of business, I ought to be sent to some place 
where I should have a public character. I am afraid 
I shall here cost more than I am worth. 

Count Goertz goes to Holland ; I know not whether 



74 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

instead of Thulemeyer or ad tempus. He is followed 
by the son of Count Arnim, who is a young shoot for 
the corps diplomatique. Goertz is not a man without 
talents : when sent into Russia, under every kind of 
disadvantage, he obtained a good knowledge of the 
country; he is cold, dry, and ungracious; but subtle, 
master of his temper, though violent, and a man of 
observation. That he is of the English party is cer- 
tain; he is loyal to Hertzberg, and convinced that the 
alliance of Holland and France is so unnatural it must 
soon end. I own I think as he does, especially should 
we abuse our power. 

A new Ambassador is appointed, in petto, for 
France. I have not yet been able to discover who; 
but Hertzberg supports the ridiculous Goltz with all 
his power. Schulemburg daily declines in favor. The 
maritime company have already lost their monopoly 
of coffee, of which there are four millions and a half 
pounds' weight consumed in the various provinces of 
the Prussian monarchy. Hence we may observe that 
the free use of coffee, which daily becomes general in 
Germany, is the cause that the consumption of beer 
is gradually and much less. The same company may 
be deprived of a prodigious profit on sugars; but it 
will be in vain to destroy old monopolies only to sub- 
stitute new, though they should be for the profit of 
the King. 

The personal debts of his Majesty are paying off by 
the Minister, Blumenthal ; it is said there are tolerably 
great reductions made, but not unjustly, as I imagine, 
for there are no complaints on the subject. Exclusive 
of the Royal Treasury, Frederick II. has left savings 
so great that they will scarcely be absorbed by the 
personal debts of Frederick William 11. It is said he 
will pay off his Italian opera, and everybody believes 
there will be a French opera instead. This certainly 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 75 

would be no trifling means of support to intrigue. 

The freedom of scrutiny is restored to the Academy, 
and the Germans are henceforward to be admitted 
members. I regard the curatorship of this body as a 
favor conferred on, and a tolerable resource of power 
for, Hertzberg, who will be curator by title, and presi- 
dent in reality. The presidency of the Academy is so 
truly ministerial that the late Frederick exercised it 
himself, after the decease of the restless and morose 
de Maupertuis. Count Hertzberg said to me, at Court, ' 
" You are a compliment in my debt." *' On what occa- 
sion?" '' I am curator of the Academy; which title 
gives me greater pleasure and, in my opinion, is more 
honorable than a ribbon." Forty persons heard our 
discourse. '' Certainly," replied I, ^' he who is the 
minister of knowledge may well be called the Prime 
Minister." 

The King will not ruin himself in gifts; he has 
hitherto bestowed only prebendaries, which cost him 
nothing except a pension of three hundred crowns, 
on General Levald. I am informed that he has just 
granted one of eight hundred crowns — to the poet 
Rammler. It would perhaps have been more delicate not 
to have begun by pensioning fame, and her trumpet. 



LETTER XIX 

September 2d, 1786. 
All circumstances confirm my predictions. Prince 
Henry and his nephew have almost quarreled. The 
uncle is inconsolable, and thinks of retiring to Rheins- 
berg. He will almost certainly return during the 
journey of the King, through Prussia and Silesia. 
Probably we shall have no great changes before the 
Monarch has performed these journeys, if then. 



76 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

There is one, however, besides those I have before 
spoken of, which is remarkable; and that is, a com- 
mission to examine the administration of the customs, 
— what is to be abrogated, what preserved, and what 
quahfied, especially in the excise. 

M. Werder, a Minister of State, and the intimate 
friend of Hertzberg, the enemy of Schulemburg who 
brought him into place, and father-in-law to the secre- 
tary of the English Embassy, or perhaps to his wife, 
is at the head of this commission. The other members 
are ridiculously selected; but the very project of such 
a reform is most agreeable to the nation; as much so 
as the pension of eight hundred crowns granted to 
the poet Rammler, and the promise of admission of 
Germans into the Academy, is to the distributors of 
renown. It remains to be seen whether the people have 
not been led to hope too much; and whether it is not 
requisite to be certain of substitutes, previous to the 
promise of relief. 

The King goes to Prussia attended by Messieurs 
Hertzberg ( for the King to be attended by a Minister 
out of his department is unexampled), Goltz, sur- 
named the Tartar, Boulet, a French engineer. General 
Goertz, Gaudi, and Bishopswerder. 

This Goltz the Tartar is he who, in the last cam- 
paign of the Seven Years' War, raised an insurrection 
of fifty thousand Tartars, in the Crimea and the 
neighboring countries ; who were marching to make a 
diversion in favor of the King of Prussia, and had 
arrived at Bender, when peace was concluded. Not- 
withstanding this, Goltz can boast of but little abilities ; 
except that he is a good officer, and ardently active. 
He was indebted for his great and singular success 
to a Dutchman named Biskamp, whom he met with 
in the Crimea. He attached himself to this very 
able and enterprising man, who understood the 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG ^y 

language, knew the country, and served Frederick 
11. according to his wishes; by whom, indeed, he was 
well paid. This Biskamp is at Warsaw, and there 
forgotten, which is very strange. I have supposed the 
relating this anecdote, which is but little known, might 
be interesting. 

Boulet is an honest man, for whom the King shows 
some affection, and to whom he is indebted for all he 
know^s concerning fortification. 

General Goertz is the brother of the Goertz who is 
going to Holland, but not his equal; he is artful and 
subtle, and his good faith is of a suspicious complexion. 

Gaudi is the brother of the celebrated general of the 
same name; little known hitherto as the Minister of 
the Prussian department, but capable, well-informed, 
firm, decided, and indubitably the man most proper to 
influence interior arrangements in reconstructing the 
grand directory. 

Bishopswerder you are acquainted with; he and 
Boulet each lately received the commission of lieuten- 
ant colonel. 

The King has told Schulemburg that, on his return 
from Prussia, he will determine w^hich of his nine de- 
partments he shall be deprived of. He and his wife 
are the only ministerial family who are not invited to 
Court. The probabilities all are that Schulemburg 
will demand leave to resign, should his colleagues con- 
tinue to humble him, and the King to treat him with 
contempt. But Struensee probably will keep his place, 
and he then proposes to act, in concert with us, in our 
public funds; especially should the King, as is ap- 
parent, commit to his charge the four millions of 
crowns which he means to set apart for the operations 
of previous finance. Struensee is the only man who 
understands them. This is a subject not to be 
neglected, as it hitherto has been, even so far as to 



7d> MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

render it impossible for me to act with propriety. 
We might profit by him, during peace; but if unfor- 
tunately the news which is whispered be true, con- 
cerning the increasing ill health of the Elector of 
Bavaria, depend upon war, for I then hold it inevitable. 
Is this a time for us to exist from day to day, as we 
do, when each month (for there is a probabihty, at 
any time, that he should die within a month) menaces 
all Europe with inextricable confusion? 

M. de Larrey, sent from the Stadtholder to com- 
pliment the King, openly affirms it is impossible the 
disputes of Holland should be appeased without effu- 
sion of blood; and the speculations of Hertzberg upon 
this subject are boundless; but the secret is well kept 
by those who surround the King. 



LETTER XX 

TO THE DUC DE 



September 2d, 1786. 
By what fatality, monseigneur, has it happened that 
I have not received your letter, dated the sixteenth, 
till this day? And, still more especially, why w^as it 
not written some weeks sooner? The importance of 
the proposition with which it concludes will never 
be fully understood; and which, made at any other 
time, except when the King was dying, would have 
been willingly accepted. It will never be known, had 
it been presented soon enough, how much it might 
have effected, impeded, and indicated, relative to a 
Prince whose understanding perhaps is not great, but 
who possesses gratitude, and w^ho will much more 
certainly be an honest man than a great King; so 
that his heart rather than his mind ought to have been 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 79 

appealed to ; and that at a time when he was far 
otherwise accessible than at present, — walled in, as he 
is, by system and intrigue. How does it happen that 
you are the only person of the country you inhabit 
who conceived this plan? How could the Cabinet of 
Versailles give up the merit of offering trifling sums 
to Serilly ? How could it permit the Duke of Courland 
to secure the claim of having hushed the loud cries of 
creditors to silence? How impolitic and disastrous 
are the sordid views, the confined plans, and short- 
sighted prudence of certain persons! In what a situa- 
tion would such an act have placed us, as it would me 
personally, in his opinion! All things then would 
have been possible, would have been easy to me. But 
of this we must think no more ; we must only remem- 
ber this is a new proof that reason is always on your 
side. 

Since the death of the King I have sent supplies of 
information to your Cabinet, respecting the Aulic 
phases, and my dispatch of to-day, a great part of 
which no doubt our common friend will read to you, 
is a statement, according to the best of my abilities, of 
present and future contingencies. You will there per- 
ceive that Prince Henry has accomplished his own 
destiny; that his trifling character has, on this occasion, 
weighty as it was, been stranded on the rock of his 
excessive vanity, as it has before so often been; that 
he has at once displayed an excessive desire of power, 
disgusting haughtiness, insupportable pedantry, and a 
disdain of intrigue, at the same time that his conduct 
was one continuation of petty, low, dirty cabal; that 
he has despised the people in power, while he him- 
self is surrounded only by those who are evidently 
either foolish, knavish, or contemptible, — one sole 
man, Baron Knyphausen, excepted, and he is in daily 
danger of being carried off by apoplexy ; that, in fine, 



So MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

no man can be more out of favor, and particularly out 
of confidence, or can have put himself into a situation 
in which confidence and favor will be more difficult 
to regain. 

I therefore persist in my opinion that the Duke of 
Brunswick, who is master of himself, by no means 
ostentatious, and who is possessed of profound talents, 
will be the man, — not of the present moment, but of 
the moment of necessity. My reasons are numerous, 
and so deduced as, in my opinion, not to admit of 
contradiction, the order of events and circumstances 
which I see and foresee considered. All this does but 
render the execution of your project the more neces- 
sary, and which I regard as very practicable, with 
some small exceptions, if executed by the persons in 
whom you ought to confide, — should you, with your 
natural dexterity, and irresistible seduction, pursue 
the plan of interesting the vanity of the Master, so as 
to make it his own act, and, as you have so well ex- 
pressed it, that it shall be he himself who shall inform 
his Ministers of his intentions. 

I repeat, your project is the more immediately neces- 
sary because that England cabals, with great industry, 
in her own behalf, under the pretense of the interests 
of Holland, which are very much at heart, in the 
Cabinet of Berlin. I own that what I have often 
insinuated here, namely, that the Prussian power is 
not sufficiently consolidated, and that, if opposed to 
stand the shock of France and Austria combined, it 
must be reduced to powder, is a proposition not so 
unanswerable but that, thanks to Russia, there are 
many objections to be made ; and so there always will 
be, even in suppositions the most unfavorable to 
Prussia. 

I. Because this would but be commencing a deplora- 
ble career of sanguinary contentions, under the direc- 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 8i 

tion of the Emperor, who is so little able to direct that 
he may be affirmed to be the least military of men. 

2. That the utmost success would leave a Prince 
without counterpoise in Europe, who has claims and 
pretensions of every kind. 

Lastly, and more especially, this would be painfully 
to seek that which the nature of events spontaneously 
offers; like as spring makes the apparently dry and 
sapless tree bud and bloom. 

There are some errors in ciphering, which are the 
cause that I do not perfectly understand the grounds 
of your dissension with me, concerning the maritime 
system; but I too well know the extreme justness of 
your mind, which does not remain satisfied with phan- 
toms, to imagine our opinions are very opposite. And, 
for my own part, I have never pretended to say that 
we ought not to maintain a navy which should make 
our commerce respected. The question to determine 
is, What ought the extent of this commerce to be,, 
which is to be effectually protected? You, like me, 
perceive that no alliance with England can be solidly 
established but by a commercial treaty, which should 
have exact, clear, and distinct lines of demarcation; 
for, were unlimited freedom of trade permitted, they 
would be the sufferers. How might they support the 
rival-ship? And, if we do not cut away the voracious 
suckers from the root of the tree, how shall we pre- 
vent the Indies and Antilles from eternally continuing 
the apple of discord? 

Be this as it may, monseigneur, do not suffer your- 
self to be discouraged or disgusted by difficulties. 
Ascend the height with a firm though measured step, 
and with inflexible constancy. You have found the 
only unbeaten track which, in these times, can lead to 
political fame, and which best may tend to the pacifica- 
tion of the earth. How admirable is it to unite the 



82 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

talents of the hero, the principles of the sage, and the 
projects of the philosopher! By a single diplomatic 
act to reverse all the obsolete forms, all pitiable rubrics, 
all the destructive arts of modern politics, would be to 
gain no vulgar crown; and a prospect so magnificent 
must be a most powerful support to your fortitude. 

I need not repeat how much I am devoted to you, or 
how entirely you may dispose of me. 



LETTER XXI 

September S^K 1786. 
It is impossible that I should send you intelligence 
more exact, concerning the situation of Prince Henry 
with the King, than that which my preceding letters 
contain. The Prince himself no longer conceals the 
truth, and, like all weak men, passing from one ex- 
treme to the other, he clamorously affirms the country 
is undone, that priests, blockheads, prostitutes, and 
Englishmen are hastening its destruction; and, by the 
intemperance of his language, confirms what the in- 
discretion of Chevalier d'Oraison, and the personal 
confidence of the uncle to the nephew, when he was 
only Prince of Prussia, probably before but too cer- 
tainly told Frederick William II. I repeat, he has 
completed his disgrace, in the private estimation of the 
King. It is my opinion that, if he may be permitted, 
he will either quit this country, in which he has not 
one friend, one parasite, except in the most subaltern 
and abject class, or will become insane, or will die; 
such is my augury. 

Not that I am convinced that the administration 
must always be committed to subalterns. The King 
has too much dread of seeming to be governed not to 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 83 

have the necessity of being governed. Why should 
he be the first man who should pretend to be what 
he is not? Frederick II. who by nature was so per- 
fectly designed to govern, never testified a fear of 
being governed; he was certain of the contrary. The 
present King fears he shall, and therefore shall be. 
While public affairs are transacted separately, he will 
not seem to be; for nothing is more easy in this 
country than to receive and to pay. The machinery is 
so wound up that the surplus of revenue is great in- 
deed. It is easy to pay some attention to detail, to 
keep watch over the police, to make some subordinate 
changes, and to coquette with the nation. And here 
be it said, by the way, there seems a determination of 
humbling the vanity of foreigners; so that, as I have 
always affirmed, the gallomania of Prince Henry has 
been very prejudicial to us. Some good will be done; 
for it is not here as in other kingdoms, where the pass- 
ing from evil to good is sometimes worse than the 
evil itself, and where there is terror in resistance. All 
is here done ad nutum. Besides, the cords are so 
stretched they cannot but relax; the people have been 
so oppressed, have suffered such vexation, such ex- 
tortion, that they must find ease. All will proceed, 
therefore, and almost without aid, while foreign poli- 
tics shall continue calm and uniform; but, whenever 
a gun is fired, or even at the first lowering storm, with 
what a petty crash will this scaffolding of mediocrity 
come to the ground ! How will these subaltern Minis- 
ters shrink, from the slave at the oar to the terrified 
steersman ? How will they call for a pilot's aid ? 

Who must be this pilot? The Duke of Brunswick. 
Of this I have no doubt. Every little accident, in the 
day of trouble, is only an additional aptitude to fear. 
Besides that, the Prince is, of all men, he who best can 
conduct little vanity; he will satisfy himself with ap- 



84 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

pearing the servant of servants; the most polite, the 
most humble and indubitably the most adroit of cour- 
tiers ; while, at the same time, his iron hand will fetter 
all paltry views, all trifling intrigues, all inferior fac- 
tions. Such is the horoscope I draw ; nor do I think, at 
present, one more rational can be erected. 

Hertzberg is the man who must be managed in the 
State; and for this Comte d'Esterno is not qualified, 
because he formerly deserted him too much; and he 
well perceived it would have been indelicate and stupid 
to have veered too suddenly. Hertzberg, however, 
may ruin himself by his boasting, and even by his 
ostentation. This is a mode of effecting the fall of 
Ministers which the courtiers will not fail to employ 
because of the character of the King, and which may 
succeed. 

But Holland and her convulsions are the subject o£ 
present consideration. There is a conviction that we 
can do what we please; and, though I am far from 
thinking this to be incontrovertible, I still think that, 
were we to say to the party that has gained so much 
ground, probably from a conviction that we were 
ready to march up to their support (for how would 
they have dared to make themselves responsible if 
they had possessed no securities for such future con- 
tingencies as may be expected?). I repeat, were we 
to say, YOU must go no further, we should be 
obeyed. It will be supposed, I neither pretend nor 
wish to give advice. I am too far removed from 
truth, which I can only inspect through the magnify- 
ing glass of passion; and the Comte d'Esterno informs 
me of nothing; but I can distinctly perceive that that 
hurricane, which is forming in those marshes, may 
extend to other countries. The French Embassy of 
Berlin will not say thus much to you, because they do 
not see things in the same light, but are persuaded 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 85 

that the interest of the brother will have no influence 
on the connections of the King. Of this I doubt, and 
have good reason so to doubt. Hertzberg is wholly- 
Dutch, for it is the only decent manner in which he 
can be English ; and he may greatly influence foreign 
politics, although he does not understand them. As, 
the other day, he was rehearsing his eternal repetition 
of — The King will be the pledge of the Stadt- 
HOLDER — I said to him, "I respect the King too 
much to ask who shall be the pledge of the pledge; 
but I dare venture to ask — How will the King 
make his pledge respected? What shall happen 
when France shall demonstrate that the Stadtholder 
has broken engagements entered into under her sanc- 
tion? The King is not the brother-in-law of Holland; 
and the affair of Naples is sufficient proof that family- 
interventions may be eluded ? What can the King ac- 
complish against Holland? And is he not too equi- 
table to require us, who cannot wish that the Dutch 
should become English, to risk our alliance for the 
knight-errant of the English?" To all this Hertz- 
berg, who beholds nothing on this sublunary earth 
but Hertzberg and Prussia, made vague replies ; but, 
at the words, "What can the King accomplish against 
Holland?" he muttered, with a gloomy air, ''Hol- 
land WILL NOT DEFY HIM, I BELIEVE." OuCC again, 

beware of Holland; where, by way of parenthesis the 
English legation affirms that we have bought the town 
of Schiedam; that M. de Calonne, in particular, inun- 
dates the country with gold; and, in a word, that he 
is personally the brand of discord. 

I have reserved the questions with which your letter 
begins, to conclude with; first, because they relate to 
affairs the least pressing, since it appears impossible 
that the Emperor should make any attempts on Turkey 
in Europe before the coming spring ; and next, it was 



86 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

necessary I should previously recollect myself; the 
concurring circumstances of the death of the King, 
and the accession of Frederick William, being the sub- 
jects which have almost exclusively demanded my at- 
tention, and induced me to defer more distant objects 
to future consideration. Still, I fear mine is a barren 
harvest, Prussia not having any continued intercourse 
with these wide lying countries, which are more than 
four hundred leagues distant; for she has neither any 
great merchant, nor any system of politics, because 
the corps diplomatique of Prussia is extremely defi- 
cient. 

As to those individuals that are met with in society, 
they are ignorant, and can afford no information. 
Buckholz, the Prussian envoy to Warsaw, a man of 
ordinary capacity, but active, and Huttel, who is in 
the same capacity at Petersburg, an intelligent person, 
write word that Russia is more pacific than Turkey, 
and that the internal Ottoman provinces call for war. 
The frontier provinces, appertaining to the Tartars, 
certainly are not friendly to Russia. Moldavia and 
Wallachia are governed by Hospodars, who, being 
Greeks, most certainly are sold to whoever will pur- 
chase them, consequently to Russia. The Emperor 
deceives them, and is hated there, as elsewhere. I 
shall speak further of this, and shall endeavor to give 
a sketch of a journey along the frontiers of these 
countries, which should be undertaken in the disguise 
of a trader, and kept rigidly secret, by which the state 
of the frontiers, the magazines, the propensities of the 
people, etc., etc., might be known, and what is to be 
hoped or feared, if it be found necessary to arm (in 
which case it is very probable Prussia would volun- 
tarily aid us with all her powers), — that is to say if 
the Emperor should determine to pay no respect to our 
remonstrances, as he has twice done before. 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 87 

Perhaps I might be more useful employed in such 
a journey than at Berlin, where at every step I tread 
on danger, and shall so continue to do, unless I have 
credentials, at least as an assistant; which perhaps 
would be the more proper, because it sometimes hap- 
pens that such an interlocutor is spoken to with greater 
freedom than an Ambassador; for the refusals he 
meets, or the proposals he makes, have no ministerial 
consequences; and thus each party gains information, 
without either being offended. 

Pay serious attention to this, I request. In vain 
you recommend me to act privately; permit me to in- 
form you that, in despite of all my efforts, this is im- 
practicable. I have too much celebrity, too much 
intercourse with Prince Henry, who is a true Joan of 
Arc, and who has no secrets of any kind. I am made 
to speak when I am silent ; and when I say anything it 
is unfaithfully repeated. It is impossible to conceive 
all that has been attributed to me since the King's 
death ; that is to say, since an epoch when I have taken 
advantage of the interruption of social meetings to 
keep myself recluse, and to labor only by mining. 
Comte d'Esterno discredits me all in his power. The 
English Embassy exclaims : "Focniim habet in cornu, 
longe fuge." The favorites keep me at a distance ; the 
wits, the priests, and the mystics have formed a league, 
etc., etc. Each fears an invasion of his domains, be- 
cause my real business is not known. I cannot remain 
and be of any utility, unless you shall find means to 
inform Count Finckenstein that I am only a good 
citizen and a good observer; but that these I am, and 
that I am authorized to give my opinion. I cannot 
doubt but that this Minister is very desirous these 
few words should be said. I am, however, in con- 
science obliged to repeat, the part I have to play daily 
becomes more difficult and more invidious ; and that, in 



S8 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

order to be truly useful, I must have some character 
given me, or be employed elsewhere. 

Prince Henry at present reads his recantation; he 
again pretends Hertzberg has received his deathblow, 
and that his downfall will be instantaneous. He re- 
lates miracles of the Duke of Brunswick, and flatters 
himself that he shall, soon or late, have great influence 
— "He w^ill be in no haste. He will ply to windward 
six months." He affirms the English projects are 
absolutely abortive. Hertzberg, he is confident, acts 
as if he had lost all understanding, and precisely as if 
he. Prince Henry, had counseled him, in order to 
render his fall more headlong, etc., etc., etc. In fine, 
his discourse is a mixture of enthusiasm and rodomon- 
tade, of presumption and anxiety; a flux of words that 
confirm nothing; or of half phrases without any de- 
terminate meaning, except of exaggeration and tumor. 
Hence, it is difficult to conjecture whether he deceives 
himself or wishes to deceive; whether he maintains 
the cause of vanity, feasts on illusion, or if he has 
recently any ray of hope; for, as I have said, it is not 
impossible but that Hertzberg, by his boasting, should 
effect his own ruin. Prince Henry presses me to re- 
quest the Court to send me some credentials, while the 
King shall be in Prussia and Silesia; or, at least, to 
write concerning me to Count Finckenstein, by w^hom 
the intelligence may be communicated to the King. 

No change in the new habits of the Monarch. Ma- 
dame Rietz has been but once to see him; but, on 
Saturday last, he wrote to his natural son by that 
woman, and directed his letter: "To my son Alexan- 
der, Count de la Marche." He has ennobled, and even 
made a Baroness of the mistress of the Margrave of 
Schwedt (Baroness of Stoltzenberg, v^hich is the title 
of a Barony, worth about eight thousand crowns a 
year, given her by the Margrave), who is nothing 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 89 

more than a tolerably pretty German girl, formerly an 
actress, by whom the Margrave has a son. It was not 
thought proper to refuse the only thing this old Prince 
of seventy-seven wished or could request. Perhaps, 
too, it was a pretext to do as much for Madame Rietz. 
The husband of this lady is erzkaemmerer, a place 
nearly corresponding to that of first valet de chamhre, 
and treasurer of the privy purse; but it is supposed he 
will do nothing more than get rich; his wife hitherto 
has never had any serious influence. 

The Court Marshal, Ritwitz, having suddenly be- 
come raving mad, after a quarrel with one of the pro- 
vision oflicers, Marwitz, who is a totally insignificant 
person, has been proposed to the King. ''He will do 
as well as another," replied the Monarch. Is this 
thoughtlessness, or is it fear of importance being an- 
nexed to a place which in reality but little merits im- 
portance? This question it is impossible to answer. 

Lucchesini increases in his pretensions ; he demands 
a place in the finance or commercial department; per- 
haps the direction of the maritime company, but this 
would be a very lofty stride. Annexed to wit and in- 
formation, he has some qualities to which ambition is 
seldom allied ; at most they will entitle him to become a 
member of the corps diplomatique, of which he is capa- 
ble. I believe this Italian to be one of the most ardent 
in keeping me at a distance from the King, who will 
not indeed be easy of access before the winter. 

The commission of regulations has hitherto rather 
appeared a caustic than a healing and paternal remedy. 
There is much more talk of the sums the employment 
of which cannot be justified than of easing the excise. 
Verder, the president, is besides known to be the per- 
sonal enemy of some of the members of the tax 
administration. This, perhaps, has occasioned sus- 
picions. Verder, however, was proposed by the Duke 



90 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

of Brunswick, who, in fact, had need of his aid in 
some affairs that relate to his country. 

Hertzberg has certainly been in a storm, and the 
credit of Count Finckenstein appears to be augmented, 
though I confess the shade of increasing favor is 
scarcely perceptible. I persist in believing that Hertz- 
berg is immovable, unless by his want of address. 



LETTER XXn 

September Sth, 1786. 
The sixth, at a review of the artillery, I dismounted 
my horse to attend the King, in the front of the ranks. 
The Duke of Brunswick joined me; and, as we talked 
of mortars, bombs, and batteries, we gradually re- 
moved to a distance. As soon as we were alone, he 
began to speak to me of the prodigious knowledge I 
had of the country; giving me to understand he had 
read my memorial to the King. He then reverted to 
the new reign, and suddenly afterward to foreign 
politics. Having entered at length into the subject, 
and spoken more than is necessary here to repeat, he 
added, ^Tn God's name, arrange affairs in Holland; 
free the King of his fears. Must the Stadtholder 
never be other than ad honores? You are in full 
credit there, and this credit you cannot lose; if you 
did, the party by which you obtained it would be too 
much exposed to danger. I repeat, put us at our ease, 
and I will answer on my head for everything else; 
but use dispatch, I conjure you. On Sunday I shall 
depart for Brunswick; come and visit me, while the 
King is gone to Silesia; we can converse freely there, 
and nowhere else. But write to your friends that they 
ought to exert all their influence to engage the French 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 91 

Ministry to use moderation with the Prince of Orange, 
who cannot be proscribed without State convulsions. 
Things are not ripe for his aboHshment; give him 
protection. France cannot render a greater service 
to Europe. What, is your Court yet to learn those 
forms which effect no change, but which give every 
support?" Here we separated, because the subject 
began to be too interesting. But tell me — ought I not 
to go to Brunswick ? 

To this I should add that Count Goertz has taken 
eight chasseurs with him, who are to convey letters to 
the frontiers of the Prussian States, in order that no 
dispatches may be sent by land nor pass through 
foreign hands. The Duke of Brunswick has repeated 
what Prince Henry had told me, and which I forgot 
to inform you of, that one of the principal motives for 
selecting Count Goertz was his former friendship with 
M. de Veyrac. 

From my conversation with the Duke, I conclude 
that he is or soon will be master of affairs; and this 
explains the new fit of joy, hope, and presumption 
which has seized on Prince Henry, who has been per- 
suaded by the cunning Duke that, if he will but have 
patience, the scepter will devolve on him ; and that he, 
the Duke, will be no more than high constable. It is 
said Koenigsberg will be appointed Field Marshal. 
This, added to the smooth turn which the Duke has 
given discussions and pecuniary matters, has turned 
the Prince's brain, who told me the other day that 
" the Duke was the most loyal of men, and his best 
friend; that he owned a fortnight ago he was of a dif- 
ferent opinion; but that," etc. So that the metamor- 
phosis has been produced within this fortnight. In 
truth, there is no real difference between a fool and a 
man of understanding who thus can suffer himself to 
be deceived ; as little is there between a fool and a man 



92 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

of understanding who can be persuaded that a fool is 
a man of understanding. Both these things daily 
happen to Prince Henry. On the thirteenth he de- 
parts for Rheinsberg and is to return the day before 
the King. 

The fervor of the novice appears somewhat to abate. 
I have good reason to believe that Mademoiselle Voss 
is ready to capitulate, — ogling, frequent conversations 
(for the present assiduity at Schoenhausen is not paid 
to the Queen Dowager), presents accepted (a canon^ 
icate for her brother), and an attempt at influence. 
(It is she who placed Mademoiselle VIerey in the 
service of the Princess Frederica of Prussia.) To 
ask is to grant. Since the accession all circumstances 
denote how dazzling is the luster of a diadem; but so 
much the better, for her fall only can render her but 
little dangerous. She is wholly English, and is not 
incapable of intrigue. When we reflect that the credit 
of a Madame du Troussel had the power, under a 
Frederick 11. , to bestow places of importance, we may 
imagine what may happen under another King, as soon 
as it shall be discovered that intrigue may be employed 
at the Court of Berlin, as well as at other Courts. 

Madame Rietz yesterday received a diamond worth 
four thousand crowns ; she will probably be put on the 
invalid list, with some money, and perhaps a title. 

Her son, at present, has publicly the title of Count 
de la Marche (or Count Brandenburg), and has a 
separate establishment. 

General Kalckstein, disgraced by the late King, and 
regretted by everybody, has received a regiment. 

At present, and till I hear other news relative to 
Berlin, accept the following important anecdote, which 
I think it necessary to send in the now doubtful state 
of the health of the Empress of Russia: About six 
years ago, a young foreigner, and a gentleman, in the 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 93 

service of France, was presented to the Grand Duchess, 
by a lady who had been educated with her, and who 
has remained her intimate friend. It was the inten- 
tion of this young gentleman to enter into the Rus- 
sian service. He was presented to the Grand Duke by 
the Grand Duchess, who warmly solicited, and while 
he was present, a place for the youth in the service of 
her husband. 

The young favorite, well-formed and handsome, 
often visited the Grand Duchess. Invited to her pal- 
ace, feasted, distinguished, and continually receiving 
new favors, he fell in love; of which the Grand 
Duchess was informed by his extreme confusion. One 
grand Court day, at a masked ball, in the evening, 
she had him conducted by one of her women into an 
obscure apartment, and sufficiently distant from those 
where the Court was held. In a little time the con* 
ductress quitted him, and advised him to wait, and 
the Grand Duchess arrived in a black domino. She 
removed her mask, took the youth by the hand, led 
him to a sofa, and made him sit down by her side. 
The Grand Duchess then told him this was the mo- 
ment for him to choose between the service of France 
and the service of Russia. A certain time, however, 
was allowed him to come to a decision. Coquetry 
and even caresses succeeded. Wavering, taken by 
surprise, distracted between love and fear, the youth 
behaved with excessive awkwardness at the beginning 
of the interview. The Grand Duchess, however, en- 
couraged him, inspired him with audacity, and made 
him every advance, till at length he vanquished his 
timidity and indeed became very daring. 

To this scene of transports, adieus suddenly suc- 
ceeded, which partook as much of terror, and of des- 
potism, as of love. The Grand Duchess commanded 
the youth, in the most tender but the most absolute 



94 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

tone, to inform the Grand Duke that he could not 
accept the rank of captain, which was intended to be 
given him. She added that he must depart, instantly 
depart; and that his head must answer should the 
least circumstance transpire. She, at the same time, 
pressed him to demand some mark of remembrance. 
The terrified youth, confused and trembling, requested 
a black ribbon, which she took from her domino. He 
received the pledge, and so totally lost all recollection 
that he left the ball, and quitted Petersburg, without 
contriving any means of correspondence, arrange- 
ments for the future, or precautions of any kind, in 
favor of his fortune. In a few days he left Russia, 
travelling day and night, and did not write to the 
Grand Duke till he had passed the frontiers. He re- 
ceived a very gracious answer; and here the affair 
ended. 

This person is returned to, and is now in, the service 
of France. He has little firmness, but does not want 
understanding. Were he guided he might certainly 
be useful; at least, attempts might be made after so 
extraordinary an incident. But for this it would be 
necessary he should go to Russia before there is any 
change of monarch, and should tempt his fortune, now 
that the Grand Duchess has not so much fear. I am 
not personally acquainted with him, but I can dispose 
of his most intimate friend, in whom every dependence 
may be placed. I have not thought proper to name 
the hero of the romance, whom it is not necessary to 
know, unless it should be intended to afiford him em- 
ployment. If, on the contrary, it should be thought 
proper for him to pursue any such plan, I will name 
him instantly. 

The Elector of Bavaria is certainly not in good 
health; he may not live to see winter; and it is 
scarcely probable he will reach the spring. I shall go 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 95 

from hence to Dresden, that I may not appear to ab- 
sent myself purposely for the Duke of Brunswick. I 
shall remain there seven or eight days, as long at 
Brunswick, and three or four weeks in the whole. My 
journey will be exactly of the same duration as that of 
the King, in whose absence there is nothing to be 
learned, and I shall certainly profit by my peregrina- 
tions, and learn more at Brunswick in a week than I 
should here divine in three months. 

My letter is too long to speak of Turkey in Europe. 
I doubt the Emperor cannot be prevented, if he is not 
destitute of all capacity, from marching any day he 
shall please to the mouth of the Danube; but on the 
same day he must become the natural enemy of Rus- 
sia, who will find in his presence one too many on the 
Black Sea, and this may render the combined projects 
abortive. I am assured that Moldavia and Wallachia 
desire to be under the Emperor's Government. This 
I cannot believe, since his own peasants fly their coun- 
try, and even go to Poland, rather than remain in his 
power. But the before-mentioned provinces are abso- 
lutely unprotected, and I think no opposition can be 
made, except in Roumelia and Bulgaria. In fine, I 
believe we only, by promises or threats, are able to 
prevent the Emperor from laboring at this grand 
demolition. If we believe the rodomontades of 
Petersburg, Russia is singly capable of the work. But, 
were she to attempt it, what would she be on the suc- 
ceeding day? You are not ignorant she has received 
some check ; that Prince Heraclius has been obliged to 
desert her cause; that she is once again reduced to 
defend Mount Caucasus as a frontier ; that she cannot 
at present march into the heart of the Ottoman terri- 
tories ; and that perhaps this would be the best moment 
for recovering the Crimea. Should all these partic- 
ulars be true, and these conjectures well founded, it 



96 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

is impossible that I should know any one of them so 
perfectly as you do yourself. 

The dispute, relative to the hailliage of Wuster- 
hausen, has been very nobly ended by the King. He 
has retaken it, but has made an annual grant of fifty 
thousand crowns to Prince Henry, seventeen thousand 
of which the latter is obliged to pay Prince Ferdinand. 
The hailliage does not produce more than about forty- 
three thousand. 

Prince Ferdinand at present recants the renuncia- 
tion to the Margraviate of Anspach. As it is known 
that Prince Ferdinand has no will of his own, it is 
evident he receives his impulse from Prince Henry, 
and the more so, because this is the manet oltd mente 
repostmn against Count Hertzberg. It would be diffi- 
cult to imagine anything more silly, or better calcu- 
lated eternally to embroil him with the King. 

I have always regarded the singularity of Roman- 
zow, of not going into mourning, and his violence with 
Count Finckenstein concerning not sending a com- 
plimentary envoy to Petersburg, which occasioned the 
Count to demand whether he had orders from his 
Court to speak in such a style, as the effervescence of 
a young man; especially since Baron Reeden, the 
Dutch envoy, did not likewise go into mourning from 
economy, which shows it was not considered as a mat- 
ter of any great importance. As these debates very 
ridiculously occupied the corps diplomatique for a 
week ; and as the Comte d'Esterno, who has conducted 
himself well on the occasion, must have mentioned it, 
I thought it to no purpose to write on the subject. 
But as Romanzow, of all the foreign Ambassadors, 
did not attend the funeral at Potsdam, this mark, 
either of thoughtlessness or dissatisfaction, was felt; 
and, the time necessary to receive orders being past, 
I send information of the fact, to which I do not. 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 97 

however, pay so much attention as the good people in 
the pit, though it has greatly displeased the boxes. 
The Cabinet of Berlin must long have known that 
friendship, on the part of Russia, is hopeless till the 
accession of the Grand Duke; but it is impossible to 
butt with more force, or greater disrespect, than 
Romanzow has done. 



LETTER XXIII 

September lothj 1786. 
The following are some particulars concerning what 
happened, on the day of interment, at Potsdam. 

The King arrived at seven o'clock. At half-past 
seven he went with the Princesses Frederica and Lou- 
isa of Brunswick, the young ladies Knisbec, Voss, etc., 
to see the chamber of Frederick. It was small, hung 
with violet-colored cloth, and loaded with ornaments 
of black and silver. At the far end was an alcove, in 
which the coffin was placed, under the portrait of the 
hero. This coffin was richly ornamented with cloth 
of silver, laced with gold. Toward the head was a 
casque of gold, the sword that Frederick wore, his 
military staff, the ribbon of the Black Eagle, and gold 
spurs. Round the coffin were eight stools, on which 
•were placed eight golden cushions, meant to sustain: 

1. The crown. 

2. The golden globe and cross. 

3. The gold box containing the seal. 

4. The electoral cap. 

5. The scepter. 

6. The Order of the Golden Eagle, of diamonds 
and other precious stones. 

7. The royal sword. 

8. The royal hand. 



98 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

The balustrade was hung with violet-colored velvet. 
A splendid glass chandelier was in the center, and on 
each side was a mutilated pyramid of white marble 
veined with black ; that is to say, of white cloth, mar- 
bled with great art. The chamber appeared to me to 
w^ant light. 

His Majesty afterward passed into the canopy salon, 
hung with black, and adorned with plates of silver 
from the Berlin palace; and next into the grand hall, 
hung with black. Eight artificial black columns had 
been added to this immense hall. Its only embellish- 
ments were garlands of cypress, and here again there 
was too little light. 

In about half an hour the King returned to his 
apartments; and, at half past eight, Prince Henry, 
Prince Ferdinand, and the Duke of Brunswick came 
to see the same apartments, where they only remained 
five minutes. 

At a quarter past nine the King went to Prince 
Henry. The regiments of guards formed under their 
windows. The canopy was brought; it was of black 
velvet, surrounded by cloth of gold, and laced with a 
crape fringe. On the cloth of gold were black eagles. 
Twelve posts, covered with velvet, supported the can- 
opy; and over them were twelve silver eagles, each a 
foot high, which produced a good effect. 

After the canopy came the state coach; very large, 
very low, hung with white satin edged with gold fringe, 
and drawn by eight horses covered with black 
velvet. 

To the state coach succeeded a chariot, in black vel- 
vet, on which was a black crown, drawn by eight 
cream-colored horses, in black velvet harness, on which 
were fixed black eagles, embroidered in gold. The 
livery servants, chamber lackeys, heydukes, running 
footmen, huntsmen, and pages followed. 




The Grand Duchess pressing her suit with the young Frenchman, 

—p. 93 
From the 'painting by Vogler. 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 99 

The Princesses, ushered by Messieurs Goertz and 
Bishopswerder, were at church. 

At ten o'clock the procession began. The place of 
assembly was the grand hall with the eight columns. 
A gentle descent had been made from the grand can- 
opy to the door, to which the state coach was drawn 
up to receive the coffin. The road from the palace 
to the church was planked, and covered with black 
cloth. The procession was truly superb, and con- 
ducted with great order. The troops formed two 
lines. 

The church was illuminated with wax candles and 
small lamps; and the coffin was deposited under a 
cupola, supported by six pillars of white marble. The 
organ began to play and the funeral service was per- 
formed, which continued half an hour. The return 
was not disorderly, but it was not made in procession. 

When the guests came back to the palace, the tables 
were ready spread, and the courses were served up at 
noon. The guests rose from table at half past one. 
The King, Prince Henry, the Duke of Brunswick, and 
the Princesses, went to Sans Souci. Such was the 
manner in which the morning was spent. 

There was no comparison to be drawn between this 
and the funerals of the Church of Notre Dame with 
respect to magnificence, taste, or splendor; but they 
did everything that could be done, the country and the 
time considered. 

There was much order from the commencement to 
the close. The music was indifferent, had no effect, 
no energy, no charm, and was ill executed, — not one 
good voice, Concialini excepted, who did not sing 
well. 

The tables were well supplied, the viands abundant 
and select, the servants numerous and orderly. Each 
of the aides-de-camp general did the honors of a table. 

4 — Memoirs Vol. 5 



100 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

French, Rhenish, and Hungarian wines were served 
in profusion. 

The King, going to table, led Prince Henry. On 
every occasion his Majesty saluted with dignity. His 
countenance was neither serious nor too cheerful. 

He testified his satisfaction to Reck, who replied 
that Captain Gonthard had regulated the whole; and 
that he had no other merit except that of having pro- 
cured him everything of which he stood in need. 

The King wore the grand uniform of the guards. 
The Princes were booted. Prince Goethen had mourn- 
ing spurs, which was remarked. 

The King went and returned in company only with 
the Duke of Brunswick. 



LETTER XXIV 

September 12th, 1786. 
The King departs to-morrow. The order of his jour- 
ney has undergone no change. He will be back on the 
28th, and again set out on the 2d for Silesia. I shall 
probably have a good opportunity, on his return, to 
speak of finance and of substitutes. Previous to this 
Panchaud must absolutely unite with me to form a 
good plan of speculating in our funds, — good for the 
finances, and in particular good for the King who is to 
be allured. Remember the importance of this Monarch. 
Bishopswerder increases in credit, which he care- 
fully conceals. Welner, a subaltern creature, endowed 
with understanding, management, and knowledge of 
interior affairs, — a mystic when mysticism was neces- 
sary to please, and cured of his visions since the King 
has required these should be kept secret, — active, in- 
dustrious, and, what is more, suf^ciently obscure to 
be employed without creating jealousy, — Welner, I 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG loi 

say, appears to gain prodigious influence. He has the 
quaHties necessary to succeed, and even to outwit all 
his competitors. 

I again repeat, Boden ought not to be neglected, by 
the way of insinuation. He is vain, and should be 
capable of corruption; for, always suspected of the 
most insatiable avarice and the basest means, he has 
lost a place of eight thousand German crowns by the 
death of the Landgrave of Hesse Cassel, and, it is 
said, is driven to expedients. He corresponds with 
the King, and rather intimately ; that which he should 
often repeat must produce an effect. He is the hero 
to slay Hertzberg, who, I may add, has not been suc- 
cessful concerning Holland, and, in despite of whom, 
Thulemer may still be recalled. 

Prince Henry still feeds on hopes. I have no doubt 
that he is cajoled by the Duke of Brunswick. But he 
is exactly at the same point, except that Hertzberg is 
not so powerful. The King intends Alvensleben for 
the French Embassy; a man of high birth, sense, and 
wisdom, as it is affirmed. He is at Dresden. I shall 
endeavor to study him and shall take him letters. 

No person is satisfied; civil and military, courtiers 
and Ministers, all pout. I imagine they expected it 
would rain gold. I have nothing to add to my prog- 
nostics, which may be reduced to this alternative : the 
nation sacrificed, while affairs continue tranquil, that 
we may persuade ourselves we govern; the Duke of 
Brunswick, should perils intervene, and the storm 
begin to blow. 

In the name of business and of friendship, do not 
forget a plan of operations for finance. Schulemburg 
is supported, and I have reasons to believe he will not 
be dismissed. Should I acquire influence in finance I 
would not be his enemy. He will be more serviceable 
than any other. Baron Knyphausen only excepted, 



102 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

who will never be anything while Hertzberg is in 
power. 

Remember that you have an incapable envoy in 
Bavaria, and that this will become an embassy of im- 
portance at the death of the Elector. If it be meant 
to place me, which must be meant if I am to serve, 
had not I best make my first appearance here? 



LETTER XXV 

Dresden, September i6th, 1786. 
I SHALL say nothing particular to you yet of this coun- 
try, as you may suppose, for who can run and read? 
Besides, I find the inconvenience of having no cre- 
dentials, and, consequently, have not been able to 
speak with propriety on affairs, except in very general 
and metaphorical terms. 

Stuterheim, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, with 
whom I have dined, is said to be a very well, a laby- 
rinth of secrecy, and it follows that his subalterns are 
exceedingly reserved. The Ministers here rather give 
in their reports than act. " Give in their reports " is 
the consecrated phrase. But I have been so well con- 
vinced by what I have seen under Frederick II., that 
the King, who governs most himself, is so little the 
master, and is so infinitely deceived, that I am per- 
fectly aware of the degree of credit which these Court 
dicta deserve. 

I have seen Alvensleben. Should he go to France, 
I do not think he will live long. He is worn out, and 
only keeps himself alive by extreme abstinence, and 
an almost total sequestration from society. He is well 
acquainted with Germany, is said to act with prudence 
and propriety, is successful in what he undertakes, 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 103 

and has a good moral character. He is not, however, 
without art, and, perhaps, he wishes to be cunning. 
He is not precisely the man for France, but he is a 
specimen of the fruit of the country, and, for any 
other use, is some of the best it produces. I imagine 
you will find him agreeable. 

I shall endeavor to get into the currency of the 
country, but, I repeat, while I shall have no creden- 
tials, and am left so much in ignorance concerning 
home affairs, I shall be much more proper to collect 
literary and written opinions than for any other busi- 
ness; and the thoughts of men are not written in their 
faces. Nor do you, for example, find in any book that 
a Prime Minister has confided his eldest son, on his 
travels, to such a blockhead as G , or to a Cheva- 
lier du Vivier, who never utters a word that he does 
not utter an absurdity, and, perhaps, some that are 
dangerous. But why has he related that he waited at 
Hamburg five weeks for permission to take the Vi- 
comte de Vergennes to Berlin, on occasion of the ac- 
cession of the King, and that this was refused? Is he 
afraid that they should be insensible at Berlin of the 
affectation of having avoided that Court? I should 
never finish were I to cite all the incoherencies he 
utters, the least of which is ridiculous in the 
extreme. 

In reality, if I am to commence as a subaltern in the 
diplomatic corps, I have no objection to Hamburg, 
where, exclusive of the great intercourse of the com- 
merce of the North, with which we are unacquainted, 
and in which we do not sufficiently participate, since 
we wish to have an envoy there, we ought to have 
an active person, instead of one from whom noth- 
ing is so desirable as that he should be deaf and 
dumb. 

The vast connections that are between the grand 



104 MEMOIRS OP THE COURTS OF 

emponums of trade are such that these posts are never 
things of indifference. Why do not they bestow a 
sinecure on M. du Vivier? 



LETTER XXVI 

Dresden, September igth, 1786. 
There are few me:n here, yet is the machine tolerably 
well regulated; nothing can better prove that order 
and constancy are more necessary for good govern- 
ment than great talents. 

The extreme credit of Marcolini is to be regarded 
as a popular rumor. He is a favorite without ascend- 
ency (as without merit) at least in the Cabinet; his 
influence does not extend beyond the Court. At pres- 
ent he is in Italy, and the routine of affairs is the 
same. Probably some favors which pass through his 
hands, and which the excessive devotion of the Elec- 
tor rather bestows on Catholics than on Lutherans, 
are the real cause of these murmurs ; which, however, 
are sufficiently believed to occasion the Emperor to 
make a stupid blunder. He has sent here one of the 
silliest of Ambassadors — one O'Kelly, an Irishman — 
because Marcolini had married his niece. He thought 
by this means to have governed everything; but the 
trap was so palpably gross that no one has taken the 
trouble to remove the bait. 

The Ministers who have real influence are Stuter- 
heim and Gudschmidt. The first is very infirm, but 
prudent, sage, and with understanding enough to know 
on what subjects he is ignorant, to ask information, 
and to consult others. He, however, draws near his 
end. The second does not show himself to the world. 
It is affirmed that he is a man of the greatest merit; 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 105 

that he has Infinite knowledge ; that not a single pam- 
phlet in any language throughout Europe escapes him ; 
that his judgment is sound, his understanding per- 
spicuous and penetrating, and his temper communi- 
cative ; which last quality is in him the more compati- 
ble with discretion because he possesses its piety with- 
out its superstitions. He ranks first in the confidence 
of the Elector; but it must be added he is sixty years 
of age, and has ill health. 

Among the Ministers we must also enumerate M. 
Worm, a well-informed man, who possesses some prin- 
ciples of political economy, with information not very 
common on the general relations of commerce, to- 
gether with industry, activity, and great quickness of 
apprehension; but, as it is said, rarely with much just- 
ness of understanding. His moral character is sus- 
pected. He is accused of not keeping his hands pure 
from bribery; but it is not the less true that he is of 
great service to internal government. He appeared 
to me to be artful, communicative, ironical, satirical, 
and crafty, but very proper for business in all coun- 
tries. 

Of all the foreign Ambassadors, I believe M. Saft- 
zing, from Sweden, to be the only one above, or rather 
not 'below, mediocrity. I except the English envoy, 
who has the character of being an able man, but whom 
I have not yet any proper opportunity for examining. 
He is open and complaisant, even to affectation, con- 
sidering that his character is English. H we except 
Alvensleben, not one of the remainder deserves the 
honor of being mentioned. 

The Elector is a man distinct from Princes in gen- 
eral, yet he appears to partake of the character of the 
King of England. The consistency of his mind, which 
is entire, has a small alloy of obstinacy. I spoke but 
little to him, because of the confusion of the dinner. 



io6 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

Etiquette is observed at the table of the Elector; con- 
sequently I paid every care and attention to seat M. 
de Vergennes near the Prince. He speaks with intel- 
ligence and precision, but his voice is harsh, sharp, and 
shrill. His dress and countenance seemed to indicate 
devout and wheedling, but acute and implacable, jeal- 
ousy. The very ill education of the Electress, her 
noisy mode of speech, and her unreserved freedom, 
greatly occupy this Prince to his disadvantage; for, 
besides that such kind of vigilance ever bears some- 
what of the stamp of ridicule, his crabbed figure, ren- 
dered more disagreeable by a paralytic affection of 
the eyes, becomes at such moments restless, disturbed, 
and hideous. 

Such, and so ungracious, as he is here depicted, he 
is a Prince who, from many considerations, is worthy 
esteem and respect. Since the year 1763, his desire to 
do good, his economy, his indefatigable labors, his in- 
numerable privations, his perseverance, and his in- 
dustry, have not for a moment relaxed. He has paid 
all the personal debts of the Electors ; and is advanced 
in the liquidation of the debts of the State. He pur- 
sues his plans with inflexible punctuality. Slow, but 
not irresolute, difficult in accomplishing, but intelligent, 
with few resources at a first view, but possessed of apti- 
tude and the gift of meditation, his only weakness 
arises from his religion, which yet does not occasion 
him to exaggerate his rights, or to neglect his duties. 
One step further and he would have been a bigot, 
and one step backward and he would no longer be a 
devotee. It is much to be doubted whether his con- 
fessor. Hertz, has the least influence except in the dis- 
tribution of some footmen's places. The Elector sup- 
ports his Ministers with uncommon firmness, against 
all, and to all. In a word, but for him the country had 
been undone; and, should he have the good fortune 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 107 

to see a duration of peace, he will render it very 
flourishing. Population visibly increases; the annual 
surplus of births over deaths amounts to twenty thou- 
sand; and the number of the people is less than two 
millions. Trade, which might be better, is not bad. 
The army imitates that of Prussia, over which it has 
the advantage of being purely national ; but, to say the 
truth, Saxony is the least military of all the provinces 
of Germany. Credit is good, and even great. The 
paper currency is at par, or nearly ; and the interest of 
money at four per cent. The Cabinet of Dresden is 
the only one in Europe which has adopted the true 
principles of coinage. Agriculture is in a state of pass- 
able respectability. Manufactures are free; the rights 
of the people are unfringed; justice is impartially ad- 
ministered; in a word, all things considered, it is the. 
most happy country in Germany. Yet this is a re- 
markable circumstance, and excites admiration when 
we recollect the terrible scourges which have succes- 
sively, and sometimes collectively, laid this fine, but ill- 
situated country, desolate. 

They are persuaded here that v/e instigate the Turk ; 
that there is a coolness between the two imperial 
Courts; and that Russia is in want of men, money, 
and horses. It must be frankly owned that her bank 
operations have a gloomy appearance. It is supposed 
we shall endeavor, should it be absolutely necessary, to 
effect a diversion in Germany, without interfering, 
except by coming to the aid of those who should be 
too much exposed to danger. For no one imagines we 
shall suffer Germany to devolve on one single head, 
nor even to be divided between two. And, with 
respect to Turkey in Europe, it is thought that our 
interest, conjointly with that of England, will, by one 
means or other, avert the destruction with which it is 
menaced. 



io8 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

On inquiry, I find the Elector of Bavaria has not 
properly had an attack. He has only changed his mis- 
tress; and when he does so, he alters his regimen to 
excite venery. It happens on these occasions that he 
has nervous affections, which resemble false attacks, 
and which will some day bring on a paralytic stroke. 
His life is not depended upon. 

The hostilities of the Stadtholder have produced an 
effect here greatly to his disadvantage. For my part, I 
do not think his affairs in so disastrous a state as they 
seem to be believed. Should we embroil province with 
province, we shall lose our advantages; it will in vain 
be urged that the Stadtholder is master of Guelderland ; 
the nobility is numerous in that province, and they 
form A PUBLIC opinion. 

I send you the state of the military in the Electorate 
of Saxony, which is no secret; but I shall also add, by 
the next courier, that of the public stores, which I pro- 
cured by a singular accident, the particulars of which 
it would be useless here to relate. I shall only remark 
that the custom which the Elector has for several years 
adopted in his offices, of employing supernumeraries 
without salaries, might give place to discovery, however 
well secrets may here be kept. 

I shall commit to M. de Vibraye, who is returning 
to Paris, all the minutes of my ciphers, well and duly 
sealed, and addressed to you. 

He does not expect to return hither, and has hopes 
of the Swedish Embassy. 

May not the changes which will take place in the 
corps diplomatique, by the vacancy of M. d'Adhemard, 
afford an opportunity of giving me something more 
agreeable and less precarious than a secret commission, 
which must end of course, with the life of a Minister 
who is hastening toward the grave? I hope your 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 109 

friendship will not slumber. You must own others 
might act with less diligence. If you will take the 
trouble again to read my dispatches as they are here 
sent, not in ciphers but correct, and will at the same 
time consider all the difficulties of various kinds that 
I have had to surmount, and a few means which my 
cloudy situation can afford, you will not be dissatisfied 
with my correspondence. Since, for example, Zelle 
has published the history of the King's disease, I have 
the satisfaction to perceive the information I sent you 
was exact. True it is that, under the late King, at 
the conclusion of so long a reign, a man knew to whom 
to address himself ; whereas at present it is necessary 
to discover which are the doors at which you must 
knock. Yet I think I have given a passable picture 
of men and things. And what could I not effect of this 
kind, what could I not discover, had I credentials ? 



LETTER XXVII 

Dresden, September 2isf, 1786. 
I HAVE several times mentioned, and particularly in 
Numbers XL and XIX., this Boden; I can only refer 
you to the circumstances you will there find. 

As to the person named Dufour, whose real name is 
Chauvier, and who was a journeyman barber in 
France, had I thought it of any importance I should 
have spoken before and given his character at full ; for 
he is one of the circuitous paths pointed out to me 
by Prince Henry. He certainly had influence over the 
Heir Apparent, which he obtained: 

I. Because he was persecuted by the late King, by 
whom he had been expelled ; so that, in order to re- 
turn, he was obliged to take the name of Dufour, 



no MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

which is that of a family of the French colonists. 
And— 

2. That he might aid to banish the spleen. He 
often dined in private with the Prince, who was so 
familiar with him, some time before his accession, 
that when wearied with his discourse he would dryly 
bid him hold his tongue. Dufour was one of those 
with whom I should have made myself intimate, had 
the King continued to live some time longer; and he 
was among the persons and things that occasioned 
me to project a journey to Potsdam. But death sud- 
denly interposed, and I should have sought his in- 
timacy too abruptly; not to mention that subaltern 
influence has, on the King's accession, totally disap- 
peared. 

The person named Chapuis is a man who is not de- 
ficient in understanding and address. He was born in 
French Switzerland. He is the governor of the nat- 
ural son of the King, and the well-beloved of Madame 
Rietz. Thinking his acquaintance might be valuable 
in many respects, I consequently sought it, under the 
pretense of literature only ; but at present Chapuis has 
not in himself any one point of contact. To run after 
such people, so circumstanced, would but be to render 
myself suspicious to no purpose. I mentioned to you, 
on my return from Rheinsberg (Number XL), ** I 
have numerous modes of communication, which will 
develop themselves as time and opportunity shall 
serve." But these have been retarded by the accession. 
Applications of this secret kind can only be made in 
the depth of winter, and during the Carnival, with 
utility and safety. 

These, generally, are rather tools proper for a spy 
to work with than the engines of influence. Should 
such people ever have power over foreign politics, the 
puissance of Prussia must draw to a conclusion. This 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG iii 

country must not be estimated by France ; there is not 
here the same margin in which to insert follies, or to 
correct. And as in general man remains at that point 
where it is necessary he should be fixed, the King of 
Prussia will act with circumspection in what relates to 
foreign affairs. 

Not that this should prevent us from recollecting 
that we ought to guard, with extreme caution, against 
a coalition between Prussia and Austria, for this sys- 
tem also is capable of defense. It is even the easiest 
of execution, and the most splendid; nor would Prince 
Henry be so averse to it as he himself supposes, should 
he perceive the least glimmering of hope. Hitherto, 
indeed, I have not noticed anything that could give 
suspicion, but I shall more carefully examine whatever 
might occasion such an event, on my return to Berlin. 
There can be little danger that I should become lan- 
guid in the pursuit of this object, having four years 
ago published my fears of such an event, and having 
begun to send my static tables of Austria, only that 
you might attentively consider the immense basis of 
power which the Emperor possesses, and whose al- 
liance with France I cannot but consider as the mas- 
terpiece of Prince Kaunitz, and the type of our indel- 
ible levity. 

It may be that this power of the Emperor is as much 
overrated elsewhere as it is the reverse in France; 
but even this is a reason which may lead to prefer, in- 
stead of the perilous honor of being the champion of 
the Germanic liberties, the easy and deceptive advan- 
tage of dividing the spoils. Therefore, delay appears 
to me more unseasonable than it has been, for it is 
probable that the King of Prussia, having once 
pledged himself, will not recede, which seems to be 
warranted by his personal probity, his hatred of the 
Emperor, the antipathy that exists between the two 



112 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

nations, and the universal opinion which prevails 
that the chief of the empire is a perfidious Prince. 

Your project concerning Brunswick is certainly ex- 
cellent, and I shall spare no labor that may tend to give 
it success. But the man is very circumspect, Hertz- 
berg very vehement, and the crisis equally urgent. 

I have conversed with several of the English who 
are returned from the Emperor's reviews; he behaved 
there with great affability, and was very talkative. 
He particularly distinguished a French officer, who 
had traveled on horseback, that not a single military 
position might escape him on his route. The Austrian 
troops, in general, manoeuver well by companies, and 
even tolerably by regiments, but, collectively, their in- 
feriority to the Prussian army is prodigious. Opinions 
on this point are unanimous. They were not capable 
of keeping their distances, even when filing off in the 
presence of the Emperor. This grand pivot, on which 
tactics turn, is unknown to the Austrians, whereas the 
Prussians so habitually, so religiously, observe their 
distances, that any failure of this kind is an error un- 
heard of. 

The inferiority of the Austrian army compared to 
the Prussian, is attributed : 

1. To the want of a sufficient number of officers and 
subalterns, compared to the number of soldiers. 

2. To the economy, totally anti-military, of the 
Emperor, who, while the companies nominally consist 
of two hundred men, does not maintain more than 
fifty or sixty under arms, and sends the others home, 
even against their will, so that three-fourths of the 
soldiers are never disciplined. 

3. To the troops being dispersed, kept in petty de- 
tachments, and never exercised as a whole, except 
when they are encamped, where, even then, they are 
disciplined by detail. 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 113 

4. To the very great inferiority of the officers. The 
corps of captains forms the soul of the Prussian army, 
and, at the same time, is the disgrace of the Austrian, 
etc. 

It is generally affirmed that, should the two nations 
go to war, there is little doubt concerning which would 
have the advantage; that there is no equality between 
them, even supposing their generals to be equal; and 
that the contest most certainly would be favorable to 
the Prussians, during the first campaign. But this 
equality of generals is not true. Laudon, though still 
vigorous, cannot wear much longer. Besides that, he 
has often said he never would command an army, un- 
less at the distance of four hundred miles from the 
Emperor. The abilities of Lacy are suspected, though 
he enjoys the entire confidence of Joseph II., and, 
it is rumored, has rendered himself singularly neces- 
sary, by the complication of the military machine. 
No commander in the Austrian army can contend, 
against the Duke of Brunswick, nor even against Kal- 
creuth, or Moellendorf. 

Persons who have come very lately from Russia 
affirm that the Empress is in good health and that 
Ermenow has obliterated her long sorrows for the 
death of Lanskoi. It is also said that Belsborotko 
gains ground upon Potemkin, but of this I more than 
doubt. 

I have no belief in the facility with which the fifth 
dispatch may be deciphered. I think that, in general, 
the ciphers have rather been conjectured than divined. 
The way by which they are commonly known is the 
official communication of writings, which is made 
from one Court to another, and, which the Minister 
has sometimes the ill address to send without his ac- 
customed cipher, on a known day. This is a quick- 
sand of which I am not in danger. It is necessary. 



114 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

however, to have a variety of ciphers, and I entreat 
you will not neglect any occasion of sending me some 
that are new and more complete. 



LETTER XXVIII 

Dresden, September 24th, 1786. 
Your letter of the fourth of September, which, by 
mistake, your secretaries have dated the fourth of 
August, came to hand very late, and I shall reply 
without written references and solely from memory, 
in the annexed sheet, to the principal points. I had, 
indeed, previously answered them; nor do I believe 
that anything has escaped me which it was in my 
power to learn, or that I have any reason to repent 
having sacrificed too much to respect and to proba- 
bilities, at the time of the death of the King. Had I 
pursued my plan, I should have been four days sooner 
than any of the diplomatic couriers; but I request 
you will answer me whether it was possible to divine 
the conduct of our embassy. I disregarded the minute 
circumstances of death, as I had done that of the news 
itself; nor could I divine that these, being no longer 
secret, and having become so easy to examine and de- 
scribe, should yet have remained secrets to you. I 
suspect it the less because certain Ambassadors (in- 
deed, most of them) appeared to me so embarrassed 
by the completing of their dispatches that I should not 
have imagined they would have disdained a supply 
which was to be obtained with so much facility. Sat- 
isfied also with having informed you, thanks to lucky 
circumstances, of the progress of the disease, in such 
a manner as few Ministers were informed, I despised 
those particulars that were become public. But there 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 115 

were some that were sufficiently interesting, relative 
to the last two days of the King, from which a ban- 
quet might be prepared at an easy expense; and the 
poignancy of which not death itself could destroy, — 
relating as they did to a mortal so extraordinary, 
both in body and mind. 

His disease, which would have killed ten men, was 
,of eleven months' continuance, without interruption, 
and almost without relaxation, after his first fit of 
an asphyxic apoplexy, from which he was recovered 
by emetics, and after which the first word he uttered, 
with an imperious gesture, was Silence. Nature 
made four different efforts to save this her rare com- 
position, — twice by diarrhoeas, and twice again by 
cuticular eruptions. Hence it might be said, by the 
worshipers of a God, that this his image was broken 
by the Creator himself; and that nature did not aban- 
don one of the most beauteous of her works till the 
total destruction of the organs, exhausted by age, had 
been effected; nor till after a continual warfare be- 
tween body and mind during forty-six years; till 
after fatigues and agitations of every kind which 
signalized this fairy reign, and after the most ruinous 
disease. 

This man died on the seventeenth of August, at 
twenty minutes past two in the morning; and on the 
fifteenth, when, contrary to his constant custom, he 
slept till eleven o'clock, he transacted his Cabinet 
business, though his feebleness was excessive, without 
any want of attention; and even with a conciseness 
scarcely perhaps to be found in any other Prince in 
good health. Thus when, on the sixteenth, the reigning 
Monarch sent orders to Zelle to repair instantaneously 
to Potsdam, because the King had remained insensible 
almost since the noon of the day before, and because 
he was in a lethargic sleep, the physician, arriving 



ii6 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

at three o'clock, and finding Frederick II., with ani- 
mation in his eyes, sensibility in his organs, and so 
much recollection, not being called, dared not make 
his appearance. Zelle judged he was past recovery less 
from the cadaverous odor which exhaled from his 
wound than because he, for the first time during the 
whole course of his reign, did not recollect that he had 
not expedited the affairs of the Cabinet. The con- 
clusion was sagely drawn : dying only could he forget 
his duty. . . . Two-thirds of Berlin at present are 
violently declaiming in order to prove that Frederick 
II. was a man of common, and almost of mean ca- 
pacity. Ah! could his large eyes, which obedient to 
his wishes seduced or terrified the human heart, could 
they but for a moment open, where would these idiot 
parasites find courage sufficient to expire with shame ?• 



LETTER XXIX 

Dresden, September 26th, 1786. 

Conversing with a well-informed man who is re- 
turned from Russia, I learned a fact totally strange 
to me, though no doubt known to the Comte de Ver- 
gennes; but, whether or no, one which appeared to 
me proper to make you acquainted with; and more 
especially because the project is pursued with greater 
ardor than ever. 

When Hyder Ali, having advanced beyond the 
Orixa, was at the height of his prosperous success, 
the inhabitants of the north of Bengal, interrupted in 
their customary commerce by the conflict between the 
English and their enemies, brought their iron as far 
as the frontiers of Siberia, there to find a market. 
This extraordinary fact was the cause of a remarka- 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 117 

ble attempt made by Russia, in 1783. She sent a 
fleet to Astracan, to seize on Astrabat, there to form 
an estabHshment, on the northern coast of the Cas- 
pian Sea, and thence to penetrate into the interior parts 
of India. The enterprise failed; but is so far from 
being abandoned that, at this moment, a plan may 
be seen in relief at Petersburg, of the works by which 
it is intended to fortify Astrabat. 

Of all the gigantic projects of Russia this is, per- 
haps, the least unreasonable ; since it is pointed out by 
the nature of things, and since there is already an in- 
land navigation completely carried on from Astracan, 
on the Volga, the Mita, the Lake Jenien, the Wologda, 
the Canal of Ladoga, and the Neva, to Petersburg. 
Should this plan ever be pursued with activity and 
success, it must either happen that England will seri- 
ously think of an alliance with us, against the system 
of the North, or she must suffer every sort of an ad- 
vantage to be obtained over her at Petersburg ; for the 
interest of the Russians must then become totally op- 
posite to those of the English; and hence may arise 
dreadful hurricanes, that may sweep away their puis- 
sance in the East. 

How many revolutions, how much strife between 
men and things, shall be occasioned by the development 
of the destiny of that empire which successively over- 
awes and enslaves all surrounding nations? It must, 
indeed, be owned that her influence in each place ought 
to decrease in an inverse proportion to the multiplicity 
of these places. But how great is the influence of 
these augmenting points of contact, relative to Eu- 
rope! And, without prematurely divining the fate of 
Turkey in Europe, with an intent to overcharge the 
picture, should Russia seize on the Polish Ukraine, as 
the manner in which she is arming on the Black Sea, 
and disposing of her commerce, seem to indicate and 



ii8 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

to threaten, how much greater shall they still be? 
What species of understanding must the Emperor pos- 
sess, if it be impossible to make him perceive that the 
Turks and the Poles are less dangerous neighbors than 
those strange people ; who are susceptible of all, capa- 
ble of all, who become the best soldiers in the world, 
and who, of all the men that inhabit the globe, are 
the most malleable ? 

The various ideas I have acquired here, where I 
have made a tolerable harvest, will be comprised in a 
particular memorial. They are not immediately neces- 
sary, and are too numerous to be inserted in my dis- 
patches. But there was one temptation, which was 
rather expensive, that I could not resist. The Elector 
has employed his engineers in the topography of 
Saxony. Twenty-four maps have already been laid 
down ; they are kept in great secrecy, and yet, by pay- 
ing some louis for each map, I can have them copied. 
True it is I recollected that, since I could, M. de 
Vibraye perhaps has — but, as we rarely do all we may, 
or even all we ought to do, it is excedingly possible 
this should not be so; and then I should have lost an 
opportunity that nevermore could be recovered. This 
reflection determined me, in the hope that the intent 
of the act would be its apology; and, as I have not 
put the Government to the least fruitless expense, or 
which did not appertain to the better execution of the 
office I have undertaken, my surplus accounts, I sup- 
pose, will be passed. 

The Elector of Bavaria is not ill. His new mistress 
seems only to have been the whim of a day, and his 
favor again reverts to his former, Madame von Tor- 
ring Seefeld, originally Minuzzi. 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 119 
LETTER XXX 

Dresden, September 30th, 1786. 
You have been informed, no doubt, by the courier of 
Tuesday, of what happened on Monday, at the first 
Court held by the Queen; but, as I think it is proper 
I should add some reflections on this subject, I shall 
begin by relating what passed. 

The Princess Frederica of Prussia, who imagined 
that, according to the very sensible custom of the 
country, the Queen would sit down to play with na- 
tives, and not with foreign ambassadors, had placed 
the Comte d'Esterno at her table; for it was she who 
arranged the parties. She asked the Queen whom she 
appointed for her own table. The Queen named 
Prince Reuss, the Austrian Ambassador, and the 
Prince of Goethe; but, this species of infantine ele- 
phant having, after some consideration, declared that 
he did not know any one game, the Queen substituted 
Romanzow, the Russian Ambassador. The Princess 
Frederica was exceedingly surprised, but either dared 
not, or would not make any remonstrances; and the 
Queen's party sitting down to play, the Comte d'Es- 
terno, with great positiveness, energy, and emphasis, 
refused to sit down at the table of the Princess; de- 
claring he certainly would not play. He immediately 
withdrew. 

Everybody blames the Queen and the Count. The 
first for having committed an unexampled blunder, 
and the second, say the people of Berlin, ought not to 
have refused the daughter of the King. Perhaps this 
judgment is severe; though I own I should not myself 
have refused; because, in my opinion, we should not 
show we are insulted, except when we wish to be sup- 
posed insulted. And, as I think, it would have been 



120 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

very thoughtless to have taken serious notice of the 
absurd mistake of a Princess who is the most awkward 
of all the Princesses in Europe. Neither had Comte 
d'Esterno, rigorously speaking, any greater cause for 
complaint than any other of the royal ambassadors, 
among whom there is no claim of precedency. Per- 
haps, too, it would be imprudent to endeavor to estab- 
lish any such claim; for this would be very certainly 
to call that in question which tradition and universal 
tolerance have granted to us. And here let me observe 
that, as soon as Lord Dalrymple knew Comte d'Es- 
terno had been to complain to Count Finckenstein, he 
declared he made no demand of precedency what- 
ever; but neither would he suffer precedency from 
anyone. I should, therefore, have accepted the party 
of the Princess; but should have said aloud, and, 
pointing to the table of the Queen, "I see we are all 
here without distinction of persons; and certainly for- 
tune could not have been more favorable to me.'* 
(The Princess may really be called handsome.) Had 
I thought I still owed more to my Sovereign, I should, 
on the next Court day, have refused the nomination of 
the Queen; though it must have been a violent and 
hazardous step, and reparation must have become a 
public topic; instead of which it is the insult only that 
is talked of, and that considerably, in the world. 

Will the Comte d'Esterno, or will he not, at present, 
accept the first invitation he shall receive ? Should he 
comply, it will remain on record that, having resented 
the procedure, he has acknowledged himself second. 
Yet how may he refuse? I have proposed to Prince 
Henry, who is the mezzo termine, that there should be 
a Court held by the Queen Dowager, who, from her 
circumspection and native dignity, is more respected 
than the reigning Queen; and that Comte d'Esterno 
should be of her party, with the Emperor's ambassa- 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 121 

dor; which distinction would be the more marked be^ 
cause that this Queen never yet played with foreign 
ministers. If her mourning for her husband does not 
counteract this project, it seems to me the best under 
the present circumstances. The Queen has written a 
letter to Count Finckenstein, which must have been 
read to Comte d'Esterno, in which is inserted the word 
EXCUSE, and wherein she requires the King should not 
be informed of the affair. But it is answered the of- 
fense was public, and excuses are wished to be kept 
secret, since silence is required. 

The most important and incontestably certain fact 
is, that there was no premeditation in the matter; 
that it was the silly giddiness of the Queen in which 
it originated; that Count Finckenstein and the whole 
Court are vexed at the affair; that should the King 
hear of it he will be very much offended with the 
Queen, whom he has not seen for these six weeks, and 
whom he thwarts on all occasions; that he has re- 
versed all the arrangements, which in the rapture of 
accession, she has made with the Master of the House- 
hold; and that, in fine, never had Queen of Prussia, 
that is to say, the most insignificant of queens, less in- 
fluence. 

If, therefore, it be true, on the one part, that the 
place of every man in this world is that which he him- 
self shall assign to himself, that our rank, already 
much on the decline in the public opinion, has no need 
to sink lower, and that Russian insolence, which takes 
indefatigable strides, has need of being watched and 
traversed, it is perfectly certain on the other, also, 
that the proceeding of Monday was distinct and un- 
meaning, which ought not to be regarded with a low- 
ering brow, under circumstances which may lead from 
lowering to cold distance, and from the latter to great 
changes ; or, at least, to decisively false steps, to w^hicli 



122 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

the Courts of Vienna and London are desirous of 
giving birth, and by which they will not fail to 
profit. 

Such is my advice, since I have had the honor to 
have this advice asked. Permit me to add, that Berlin 
is not any longer an indifferent embassy, but that it 
is necessary there to be active, yet cautious; amiable, 
yet dignified; firm, yet pliant; faithful, yet subtle; in 
a word, to unite qualities which do not often meet. 
M. de Vibraye means to ask this embassy, should 
Comte d'Esterno retire, or be sent elsewhere. I speak 
uninterestedly, since I have no reason to presume that, 
should it be determined to send me on an embassy, I 
should begin by one of so much consequence ; but it is 
my duty to say that M. de Vibraye, and particularly 
his lady, are not the proper persons. His understand- 
ing is heavy and confined; rather turbulent than ac- 
tive; and timid than prudent. He is more the giver 
of dinners than the representative of monarchy; he 
has neither manners, elocution, nor eyes. Madame de 
Vibraye, who does not want understanding, w^ould be 
too gay even for Paris, and, to speak plainly, she has 
little propriety, and less decency. But as she is enter- 
prising, she makes pretensions to dignity with all the 
behavior of thoughtlessness; and, as she molds her 
husband as she pleases, by suffering him to believe he 
is absolute master, she renders him morose, uncivil, 
and rule. Besides which, she sequesters him from the 
world; and such sequestration must everywhere, and 
particularly at Berlin, be totally disadvantageous to an 
Ambassador of France. This is one of the errors of 
Comte d'Esterno. 

The following is the chief intelligence I hear con- 
cerning the King and his administration, relative either 
to his absence or his return. He is exceedingly dis- 
satisfied with the Stadtholder. It is affirmed you 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 123 

ought to accept the declaration of Count Goertz. I 
repeat incessantly, that this is the very time when our 
intentions ought no longer to be suspected; since as- 
suredly, if we wish the destruction of the Stadtholder- 
ship, the Prince of Orange has given us a fine oppor- 
tunity. Prince Henry affirms that, provided he was 
restored to the right of maintaining order, and not 
of giving order, at the Hague, and was in possession 
of a little money, the King would be contented. I 
believe he, the King, feels the necessity of not making 
a false step at the beginning of his political career. 
One fact, I can assure you, is certain, which is that 
it was the advice of Hertzberg to march ten thousand 
men into Holland ; and that there was on this occasion 
a very warm contention between him and General 
Moellendorf, in the King's presence. By this you may 
judge of what is to be expected from the violence of 
such a Minister. Still, however, this has not 
prevented him from being created a Count in 
Prussia; and, if I am not mistaken, his influence con- 
tinues. 

With respect to domestic affairs, whatever Prince 
Henry may say to the contrary, the credit of Schulem- 
burg is on the decline; were it only that he no longer 
appears in the transaction of public business. It is, 
however, affirmed that he, with many others, is soon 
to be made a Count, for they are not economists of 
their titles. The commission for the regulation of the 
customs begins to strike bold strokes; but they alight 
on individuals, and are not aimed at general reforma- 
tion. Launay has received information that the King 
henceforth can give him only six thousand crowns 
per annum, in lieu of twenty thousand, the sum he 
before had; and that he must accept this or resign. 
Launay, enraged, and the more so because he has long 
since demanded his dismissal, loudly declares he will 



124 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

print an estimate, which will prove not only that, in 
justification of each of his acts, he has a letter from 
the late King-, the fiscal temper of whom he has mod- 
erated much oftener than he has provoked, but that 
he likewise has refused twenty bargains, offered him 
by Frederick 11. , which would have acquired him tons 
of gold. The scandal of this estimate, should he dare 
to publish it, will be very great ; and the analyzing of 
it will rather be a commission of inquiry into the con- 
duct of the late King than of the present state of the 
customs, which might easily have been foreseen were 
thus regulated. The commissioners have dismissed 
Roux, the only able man among the collectors, with a 
pension of five hundred crowns ; and Groddard, a per- 
son of insignificance, with a like sum. They have be- 
stowed their places on Koepke and Beyer, with a sal- 
ary of three thousand crow^ns, neither of whom know 
anything, — with this difference, that the last is exact, 
assiduous, and laborious; but both of them are with- 
out information, and devoid of principles. Generally 
speaking, the commissioners themselves have none; 
nor have they the least knowledge of how they ought 
to act. Commissions here will all be the same; for, 
exclusive of the inconveniences that are annexed to 
them in every country, there is in this the additional 
one that men of knowledge are very scarce, and they 
must, therefore, long continue ill-sorted. But the 
King wishes to satisfy some, bestow places on those 
who have protectors, and particularly not to have any 
Prime Minister. There must be an embargo on busi- 
ness while it remains in this state; and I have many 
reasons for supposing that no person will, for some 
months to come, have found his true place, or that 
which he is destined to keep; we must not, therefore, 
be in haste to judge. 

But we may affirm that the King has exceedingly 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 125 

displeased the people, — less in refusing to partake of 
the festival prepared for his return than in avoiding 
the street where the citizens had assembled to see him 
pass. " He treats us as his uncle did, on his return 
from the Seven Years' War," say the mob; " but, be- 
fore imitating him in this, he ought to have imitated 
the great actions of his uncle." It must be owned 
good sense is sometimes on the side of the multi- 
tude. 

With respect to the domestic affairs of the palace, 
anyone may remark at the first glance that they are 
totally in disorder. No master, no one to give direc- 
tions, no funds assigned; footmen and the household 
officers govern all. Dufour, or Chauvier (I before 
explained to you that this was one and the same per- 
son), like all the other subordinate confidants without 
any influence whatever, is rather ill, than well treated. 
Colonel Vartensleben, formerly banished into Prussia 
because of his intimacy with the hereditary Prince, is 
supposed to increase in favor. But the two men to be 
observed are — Welner, to whom it is affirmed are 
communicated all ministerial papers, the reports on all 
projects, and the revisal of all decisions; and Bishops- 
werder, who, besides universal suspicion, talks with 
too much affectation of having no influence over the 
King not to betray himself, in a country where people 
are not artful enough to say they do not possess a 
thing which they really do not possess in order that 
it may be supposed they do. 

With respect to pleasures, they are improved upon. 
One very remarkable arrangement is, that a cook 
has been appointed for the Princess Frederica of 
Prussia, the King's daughter by his first Queen; thus 
she is to have a kind of household; which, if I am not 
mistaken, is nothing more than a mode, and none of 
the most moral, of procuring frequent and decent 



126 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

interviews with Mademoiselle Voss, who is capitulat- 
ing; for she has declared that no hopes of success 
must be entertained as long as Madame Rietz shall 
continue to be visited. The latter went to meet the 
King on his return; then, passing through the city 
with an arrow's speed, she flew to Charlottenburg, 
whither the King came, and where she lives. She acts 
the prudent part of taking charge herself of the 
pleasures of his Majesty; who apparently sets a great 
price on any new enjoyment, be it of what kind it 
may. 

It is secretly rumored, though I cannot warrant its 
truth, that England is prodigal in caresses, and reit- 
erated offers of a treaty of commerce, on the most 
advantageous terms; and that Russia itself spares no 
advances. Certain it is that our enemies and their 
partisans loudly proclaim that we have lately disbanded 
ten thousand men; which is sufficient proof, say they, 
that we have no thoughts of holding the two imperial 
Courts in awe. 

I can also certify that the Grand Duke and the 
Grand Duchess, who long had afforded no signs of 
existence to Prince Henry, have lately written him 
very charming letters, but these are no impediments to 
the licentious discourse of Romanzow, who, on the eve 
of the King's funeral, asked, in a public company, 
whether there would not be rejoicings on the morrow; 
and who has bestowed the epithet of the illumina- 
tion OF THE FIVE CANDLES on the night of the second, 
on which homage was paid to the new King, and when 
a general illumination was ordered. Apropos of hom- 
age, Prince Henry is permitted to make written oath, 
and this favor has not a little redoubled his fumes; 
he still wagers that Hertzberg will be disgraced. This 
Hertzberg yesterday read a pompous account to the 
Academy of his journey into Prussia, and he was suf- 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 127 

focated with Incense by all the candidates. Nothing 
could be more completely silly. 

I shall conclude with a word concerning Saxony. I 
do not believe the health of the Elector to be good, he 
withers visibly; and this is promoted by the violent 
exercise which he takes, from system, and in which 
he perseveres with all his invincible obstinacy. He 
will leave no sons, and there is no imagining the hypo- 
critic imbecility of his brothers, who are not married ; 
the result of which is that this fine country is danger- 
ously menaced by future contingencies. Marcolini, as 
I have said, is on his journey through Italy; and it 
is supposed that one of his commissions is to seek a 
wife for Prince Anthony. Prince Henry, who fears 
lest choice should be made of a Tuscan Princess, or 
some other of the Austrian alliances, has conceived 
the project of bestowing the hand of the Princess de 
Conde on him, by which we should secure the Elector- 
ate and the Elector. I give this as I received it. 

First Postscript. — Let me add that, with respect 
to the map I determined to have secretly copied, it is 
the map of the most important part of Saxony; and 
one which all the foreign ambassadors, without excep- 
tion, with M. de Vibraye at their head, are convinced 
the Elector will not permit his brother to see. I have 
had a windfall much more valuable, — that of the land 
survey of 1783, made with great exactitude, and con- 
taining a circumstantial division of territorial wealth. 
I shall have it copied in haste, for which I do not 
imagine I shall be blamed. M. de Vibraye is quitting 
Dresden, whither he does not wish to return. It is a 
pleasant post, and a very excellent one from which to 
observe the Emperor and the King of Prussia. 

Boden is on the road hither; he is imagined to be 
presumptuous enough to solicit the French Embassy. 



128 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

Either he will be disappointed or the Court of Berlin 
will act improperly. The King still continues in the 
intention of sending you Alvensleben. I spoke to you 
of him when at Dresden, where I conversed much 
with him; he is certainly a man of information and 
understanding. M. d'Entragues was intimately ac- 
quainted with him, and this friendship has continued. 
It would be very easy to send for M. d'Entragues, who 
is at Montpellier; whether it were to conduct or to 
watch his entrance on the scene of action. 

Second Postscript. — Prince Henry was sent for 
by the King this morning, on business, and invited to 
go and dine at Charlottenburg. This he has acquainted 
me with, and desired me to come to him at five o'clock. 
I can add nothing to this enormous length of cipher- 
ing, except that I wish to repeat that the intelligence 
of the ten thousand men proposed by Hertzberg is 
fact. It has appeared so important to me, when com- 
bined with the affairs of Hattem and Elburg, which 
seemed to give invincible demonstration that Count 
Hertzberg had long promised, in the secret corre- 
spondence of which I have spoken, the aid of the army 
of the new King. I say this information appeared 
so important that I thought it my duty to make it 
known to the Comte d'Esterno, by a channel which 
he cannot suspect is derived from me. 

With respect to Court intrigues here, I have proof 
that Prince Henry tells everything to Prince Ferdi- 
nand, who tells everything to his wife, who, lured by 
the tempting bribes she receives in ready money, be- 
trays Prince Henry. Luckily, the excessive stupidity 
of this Princess deadens her influence, and congeals 
the good-will which the King wishes to entertain for 
her. 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 129 



LETTER XXXI 

Dresden, October 2d, 1786. 
I HAVE had very little time for the courier of to-day, 
having spent all day yesterday, from six o'clock in 
the morning till night, at, and in the affairs of, the 
Court. The ceremony of rendering homage was aw- 
ful, notwithstanding the narrowness of the place in 
which the States were received. As moral ideas have 
a great influence, even unperceived by us, on our phys- 
ical sensations, this tribute of respect, paid by armed 
despotism to the nation it governs, this species of 
paternal colloquy between the Monarch and the depu- 
ties, here called the States, establishing in some man- 
ner a correlative engagement, — to which only a little 
more dignity on the part of the deputies, and at least 
the appearance of deliberation, are wanting to give 
pleasure to the heart, — fill the mind with sublime and 
affecting reveries. To a Prince capable of reflection, 
I would only wish this ceremony to be contrasted with 
the military oath, and the different emotions they ex- 
cite to be analyzed, in order to lead him to examine 
whether it be true that a monarchy depends wholly 
upon force, and whether the pyramid ought to rest 
upon its basis or upon its point. 

After the discourse of the Minister of Justice 
(Reek) to the States, after the harangue of the first 
order (the ecclesiastics), conducted by Prince Fred- 
erick of Brunswick, Provost of the Chapter of Bran- 
denburg, and after the oath of the nobility, the declara- 
tion and confirmation of privileges, the enumeration 
of titles to be bestowed, made by the Minister Hertz- 
berg (the Minister Schulemburg is one among the 
number of new Counts), the King advanced, on a pro- 
jecting balcony, over which a very fine canopy had 



130 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

been raised, to receive the oaths and the homage of 
the people. The citizens were assembled, by com^ 
panies, wards, and trades, in the square opposite the 
palace. The symptoms of tumultuous joy are here, as 
elsewhere, the effects of sympathy (I had almost said 
contagious) between a great multitude of men, assem- 
bled to behold one elevated superior to them all, whom 
they called their Monarch and their Majesty, and on 
whom, in reality, depends the greatest part of the bless- 
ings or the woes that await them. 

It must, however, be remarked that the order was 
much greater all the day, and at night, than could 
have been hoped in any other large metropolis. It is 
true that they distribute here neither wine, cervelats, 
nor money. The largesses are distributed to each 
quarter, and pass through the hands of the pastor and 
the magistrate. It is equally true that the passions of 
this are scarcely so strong as the emotions of other 
nations. 

The King dined upward of six hundred people. All 
who were noble were invited. When the proposal was 
made to me to remain, I replied that, apparently, only 
the national nobility was meant ; and that, had it been 
intended to admit foreigners to that favor, they no 
doubt would have had the honor of receiving such an 
intimation. All the English, and almost all the French, 
like me, and with me, retired. 

The illuminations were not very great. One was re- 
marked where all the small lamps were covered over 
by crape, so that the light appeared dim, gloomy, and 
truly funereal. This was the invention of a Jew, and 
it was in the front of his own house that it took place. 
It calls to my mind a beautiful passage in the sermon 
which preceded the ceremony, and which was preached 
in the Lutheran church. The minister of the prevail- 
ing religion long invoked, and with considerable pa- 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 131 

thos and energy, the blessings of toleration, — " That 
happy and holy harvest, for which the Prussian prov- 
inces are indebted to the family by which they are 
governed." 

I send you the best medals that were struck on the 
occasion. They are your own. Others are to be dis- 
tributed among the foreign ambassadors, who, no 
doubt, will send them home. There are some in gold, 
but I thought them too dear, the workmanship con- 
sidered. Each general in the service was presented 
with a large medal, the price of which is forty crowns. 
Each commander of a regiment received a small one, 
of the price of six ducats. The large are good, the 
small very indifferent. I speak of those that were 
distributed yesterday; and only of the likeness. 

October 4th, 1786. 
The day of homage and its preparations have wholly 
consumed the time, and obstructed all society, since 
the last courier; for which reason I have at present 
little to say. Prince Henry was invited, the other day, 
principally, as I believe, let him say what he will, be- 
cause M. de Custine, the father, dined with the King. 
However, his Majesty, before dinner, spoke to the 
Prince concerning Holland, and complained that the 
discourse of M. de Veyrac, who had informed Goertz 
he could not interfere, was in exact contradiction to 
the promises of the Cabinet of Versailles. The sub- 
ject of Holland puts him out of temper, as it naturally 
must ; and yet, as I have incessantly repeated, " When 
could we find a better opportunity of acting disinter- 
estedly than at present; now that the Stadtholder, 
contrary to reason and all propriety, has taken a vio- 
lent and decisive part, a few days before the arrival 
of the advice which was intended to be sent him by 



the King-? 



fe 



5 — ^Memoirs Vol. 5 



132 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OE 

I have had a very hnpassioned scene, concerning" 
Holland, with Count Hertzberg: patience, firmness, 
and something of cunning, on my part; violence, pas- 
sion, and want of reason, on his. It is evident to me 
that he is pursuing some secret project concerning 
Holland. 

Apropos of M. de Custine ; he made the King wait 
an hour for him at dinner. It is a melancholy circum- 
stance for France that she should continually be, in 
some measure, represented by certain travelers, when 
political affairs are in a delicate state. Our Due de la 

F , amid an assembly of our enemies, said to the 

Duke of Brunswick, '' Apropos ; pray has your High- 
ness ever served?" At Dresden, a ceremonious and 
circumspect place, where our embassy has given much 
dissatisfaction, this same pitiable interrogator, having 
been shown a collection of precious stones, the most 
magnificent that exists in Europe, said to the Elector 
at high dinner, " Very good ! Yes, indeed, very good ! 
Pray how much did the collection cost your High- 
ness?" A certain M. de P , a week before the 

death of the King, dining at Potsdam with the Prince 
of Prussia, hearing the name of M. de H men- 
tioned, exclaimed, " Apropos ; I forgot that I have a 
letter from him, which I am to give you." And this 
letter he threw to the Prince across the table. He no 
doubt imagined such familiarity was exceedingly 
natural — he who, at Prague, taking leave of the Em- 
peror, seized and shook him by the hand, testifying 
the great satisfaction he had received at having seen 
his manoeuvres, and renewed his acquaintance with 

him. And, what is better, it is M. de who relates 

this anecdote here; which there are Englishmen 
enough would take care should not have been forgot- 
ten, had he not with so much precaution treasured it 
up in his memory. Wherefore permit such people to 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 133 

travel, whom, by means of the places they enjoy, it is 
easy to detain at home ? There is no possibility of ex- 
aggerating the evil which such ridiculous pasquinades 
produce, at a moment when the ill-designing are so 
numerous, and who wish that the nation should be 
judged by such specimens. 

Suffer me further to remark, of Messieurs de Cus- 
tine, that, foolish as the father is, physically a fool, a 
fool unmeasurable and disgusting, equally is the son 
a man of great hopes, and appears in all companies 
with universal success. Not any man so young, with 
whom I am acquainted, unites so much modesty, so 
much reason, and such decent timidity, to so great a 
talent for observation, or to manners so agreeable and 
mild, so much caution and wise activity. There is no 
doubt but that the extravagances of the father display 
these qualities to advantage in the son, but they exist, 
and on the most solid basis, for, in all probability, he 
he has taken an aversion for, by being a continual spec- 
tator of, the follies of his father. He is a scion who, 
of all the young men I have known, is most proper 
to be transplanted into the diplomatic nursery. 

The King, all yesterday, was cold and taciturn ; not 
an emotion, not a gracious word, not a smile. The 
Minister Reek, who harangued the States in the name 
of the Sovereign, promised, in his discourse, that no 
new tax should be imposed during the present reign, 
but that, on the contrary, those that existed should be 
diminished. Was he commanded to make this prom- 
ise, or did he venture to make it uncommanded? Of 
this I am ignorant, and it is a matter of doubt. 

The day before yesterday, the King had some do- 
mestic brawls and a scene of jealousy, at Charlotten- 
burg, to support from Madame Rietz. The remem- 
brance perhaps remained with him yesterday ; whether 
or no, the discourse of his Minister of Justice spoke 



134 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

more pleasingly than his countenance, however agree- 
able it may in reality be. He is to depart on the fourth 
for Silesia, and does not return till the seventeenth. 

A part of the palace is at present furnishing, but in 
a simple style. 

Public notice has been given that those persons who 
had been promised reversions of fiefs should appear, 
that their reversions were annulled, and that they were 
not allowed to solicit till first there should be a vacant 
fief, and not for the reversion of fiefs. 

I have seen a narrative of what passed in Prussia. 
The person who wrote it has employed very sounding 
expressions to depict the enthusiasm of the public, 
and among them, the following phrase of the King: 
" I have found Prussia very ill, but I will cure 
her." 

Count Katzerling, who had suffered great losses 
during the Seven Years' War, and met with very ill 
treatment from the late Monarch, after having been 
very graciously received by him, had accepted a loan 
of one hundred and fifty thousand crowns, for thirty 
years, without interest. 

It is said the Bishop of Warmia will be here within 
three weeks. He is a very amiable man, with the 
levity of a Pole, and was much in the favor of the 
Prince of Prussia. The King seems to remember 
this; he has been treated with much greater kindness 
than any other person in Prussia. 

In November, the King is to balance the statements 
of expense and receipt. 

First Postscript. — I forgot to inform you that, 
for so cloudy a day, Prince Henry was yesterday 
highly caressed. He dined and supped with his Maj- 
esty, and singly attended him to see the illuminations. 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 135 

Second Postscript. — I return from Court, the 
Ambassadors were mingled promiscuously, but, as the 
Ministers of the two Imperial Courts were together, 
the King proceeded in rather a singularly retrograde 
manner. It so happened (because of the number of 
Englishmen that were to be presented) that Lord 
Dalrymple was the nearest to the King's door, and 
preceded the Imperial Ambassadors. The King be- 
gan with the latter. He then returned to Lord Dal- 
rymple, after which he descended much lower toward 
Comte d'Esterno, and spoke no further to him than 
by thanking, in general, the foreign Ambassadors for 
their illuminations. Should this neglect of customary 
forms continue, I think it would be right to let it be 
understood that it gives displeasure, for the rumor of 
the hatred of the King for the French is daily 
strengthened, and rumor, sometimes, in reality pro- 
duces the event it proclaims. 



LETTER XXXII 

Dresden, October 4th, 1786. 
It appears extremely probable that habit will be the 
conqueror, and that Frederick Wililam will never 
be more than what his penetrating uncle had fore- 
boded. No terms are too hyperbolical to express the 
excessive negligence of his domestic affairs, their dis- 
order, and his waste of time. The valets dread his 
violence ; but they are the first to turn his incapacity 
to derision. Not a paper in its place; not a word 
written at the bottom of any of the memorials ; not a 
letter personally opened ; no human power could in- 
duce him to read forty lines together. It is at once 
the tumult of vehemence and the torpor of inanity. 



136 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

His natural son, the Count of Brandenburg, is the 
only one who can rouse him from his lethargy; he 
loves the boy to adoration. His countenance brightens 
the moment he appears, and he amuses himself, every 
morning, a considerable time with this child, and this, 
even of his pleasures, is the only one in which he is 
regular; for the remaining hours are wasted in inex- 
plicable confusion. His ill humor the other day, for 
example, which I had supposed was occasioned by the 
quarrel at Charlottenburg, induced me to inquire into 
particulars. It was nothing more than a musical dis- 
pute. The King would have a chamber concert. He 
ordered two-and-twenty musicians to be assembled. 
It was his intention to have performed himself; his 
violoncello was uncased and tuned. Fourteen musi- 
cians only came; and passions, threats, intemperance 
succeeded. The valets de chamhre laid the blame on 
Kalikan, whose business it was to summon the musi- 
cians. Kalikan was thrown into prison. Duport, the 
famous violoncello player, and consequently the fa- 
vorite musician, came to the aid of Kalikan, and gave 
the King the letter which the valets de chanibre had 
intercepted. His choler then became outrageous; 
everybody fled, but no further effects have followed 
this subaltern prevarication. Poor King ! Poor coun- 
try! 

I am persuaded by two particulars : the one, that his 
Majesty has conceived the idea and the hope of be- 
coming a great man, by making himself wholly and 
purely German, and by hectoring French superiority; 
the other, that he is already in his heart determined to 
resign business to a principal Minister. He has not, 
perhaps, yet owned the fact to himself ; but at least he 
is inwardly convinced it must be so. In this case his 
last resource will be to call in the aid of the Duke of 
Brunswick, or of my uncle. 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 137 

The first of these plans is the work and the master- 
piece of Count Hertzberg. He has said, and justly 
said : '' There is only one mode of acquiring reputa- 
tion; which is to impart an impulse to your nation, 
that under your reign a new kind of glory may take 
date. This impulse you can only give by acting de- 
terminately. What can you ever effect as the par- 
tisan of France? You can only be the feeble imitator 
of Frederick II. As a German you will be an original, 
personally revered throughout Germany, adored by 
your people, vaunted by men of letters, respected by 
Europe, etc., etc." The explication of the enigma is, 
that Count Hertzberg imagined this to be the shortest 
road to make himself Prime Minister. 

But the necessities of accident demand, or will soon 
demand, a different person. Servile as the country 
is, it is not habituated to ministerial slavery; and 
Hertzberg, long a subaltern, rather crafty than able, 
deceitful than cunning, violent than determined, vain 
than ambitious, old, infirm, and not promising any 
long duration of life, will not bend the people to this 
servility. They must have (though this Welner, who 
is so much attended to at present, and whose influence 
near spectators only can discover, may push his pre- 
tensions), I repeat, they must have a man whose rank 
can quell subordinate candidates; and the number of 
such men is not great. I can discover but two men of 
this kind, — Prince Henry and the Duke of Brunswick. 
To the disadvantage of not living in the country, the 
latter adds that of being necessarily formidable to a 
feeble and indolent, but vain and jealous. Prince; 
who may imagine that Prince Henry will not commit 
the same injury on his, the Sovereign's, reputation as 
a Prince who cannot leave his own country, and re- 
side here constantly as Prime Minister, without being 
undoubtedly and conspicuously such. For which rea- 



138 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

son the credit of Prince Henry daily strengthens, in 
spite of his ill address. However, he has boasted less 
within some few weeks ; and, instead of not returning 
from Rheinsberg, whither he again goes during the 
absence of the King, till the middle of December, as 
was his intention, he will be here on the same day as 
his nephew. 

Yet, exclusive of the personal defects of Prince 
Henry, and the errors of which he will indubitably be 
guilty, how shall we reconcile the German system and 
the Monarch's hatred of the French to the confidence 
granted this Prince? The symptoms of such hatred, 
whether systematic or natural, continually increase 
and correspond. The King, when he dismissed Roux 

and Groddart, said: ''Voila done de ces B dont 

je me suis defait." The real crime of Roux, perhaps, 
was that he kept a Jewess whom the Prince of Russia 
wished to possess, and obstinately refused to listen to 
any kind of accommodation. A French merchant 
brought some toys to show him, to whom he harshly re- 
plied: *T have baubles already of this kind to the 
amount of seven millions." He then turned his back, 
and did not utter another word, except to bid him 
not go to the Queen, for if he did, he should not be 
paid. The action was far from blamable; it is the 
manner only that I notice. Boden was passably wxll 
received, except that the only consolation he found for 
his fever was, *'Go to Berlin, and keep yourself quiet, 
for you have a companion that will stay by you these 
three months." Boden said to him, 'T should have had 
thousands of messages to your Majesty, had I dared 
to take charge of them." "You did well to refuse," 
replied the King; and in so rough a tone that Boden 
dared not even given him the letters of Dusaulx and 
Bitaube. 

Launay is treated with severity, and even with 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 139 

tyranny. He was confined to his chamber while his 
papers were examined, independent of a general pro- 
hibition not to leave Berlin. One Delatre, his personal 
enemy, has been opposed to him on all occasions, and 
has been sent for to become an informer against him, 
— a man devoid of faith or honor; suspected of great 
crimes; a dissipator of the King's money; an unbridled 
libelist, and as such denounced by our Court to that of 
Berlin, which officiall}^ returned thanks, two years 
ago, for our behavior on that subject. I say he was 
sent for; because owing, as he does, eighty thousand 
crowns to the King, would he have ventured to come 
without a passport, or being asked ? It is evident that 
Launay is persecuted as a farmer of the taxes, and as 
a Frenchman. 

It is believed that the collectors and farmers-general 
will all be dismissed at the festival of the Trinity, the 
time when those accounts that shall actually be settled 
are to be examined. This is the grand sacrifice that 
is to offered up to the nation. But what is to supply 
the deficiency in the revenue? For in fine, the farmers, 
last year, paid six millions eight hundred thousand 
German crowns; and it is not only impossible to re- 
place this immense sum, but, knowing the country, it 
is easy to foresee that the German farmers of finance 
will scarcely collect the half of the amount. 

Of what will the convocation of the provincial and 
finance counselors, and the deputies of the merchants, 
be productive? Of complaints, and not one project 
which will not be distinct, partial, and in contradic- 
tion to the general system, — or such as the nature of 
things presents as a system; for in reality not any as 
yet exists. 

I return, and say, all these projects are contrary to 
the 'personal hopes of Prince Henry. Will he make all 
his passions subservient to his ambition? (He is far 



140 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

from possessing that degree of fortitude.) Or, does 
he dissemble that he may obtain power? Of this I 
do not believe him uniformly capable. I rather fear 
he is once again the dupe of caresses; which, however, 
it must be confessed, are more substantial and more 
marked than they ever had been before. I particularly 
fear he should be in too great haste, and too eager to 
gather the harvest before it be ripe; neglecting the 
care of providing seed for futurity. 

The King has given the Minister of Justice, Reek, 
a box of petrified shells, splendidly enriched with dia- 
monds, estimated to be worth twelve thousand crowns ; 
a similar box to the Minister Gaudi, and ten thousand 
crowns; another of the same kind to General Moellen- 
dorf; a fine solitaire to the Marquis di Luchesini; and 
a diamond ring to Philippi, the lieutenant of the police. 
He has further broken up three boxes set w^ith dia- 
monds, of which thirty rings have been made; these 
he has taken with him to distribute in Silesia. 

Take good note, that Launay has not had the alter- 
native of accepting a salary of six thousand crowns, or 
his dismission; he has merely received information, 
under the form of an order, that his salary was re- 
duced to six thousand crowns. 

Count Hertzberg this day gave a grand dinner to 
foreigners, to which the new Spanish Ambassador was 
invited, but neither Comte d'Esterno nor any French- 
man; which affectation was the more remarkable 
since all the English, Piedmontese, Swedish, and not 
only foreign Ambassadors but complimentary envoys, 
were there assembled. Comte d'Esterno takes a 
proper revenge; he gives a grand dinner to-morrow, 
to which Count Hertzberg is invited. 

Postscript. — Mr. Ewart, the secretary of the 
English Embassy, said to me yesterday, in the presence 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 141 

of fifteen people, Count Hertzberg supporting him 
with voice and gesture, in these precise terms, 'The 
Stadtholder is, by the constitution, the executive 
power in Holland; or to speak more intelligibly, he is 
precisely in Holland what the King is in England." 
I replied, in the most ironical and dry tone, "It is to be 
hoped he will not be beheaded by his subjects." The 
laughers were not with Mr. Ew^art. 

Boden has sent your packets. The extracts from 
the pleadings of Linguet, which are excellent (I speak 
of the extracts), have been perfectly successful. I 
entreat you will not fail to send me the continuation. 
You cannot find a better means of procuring me 
customers than by things of this kind. 

There is a demur concerning Alvensleben. It is 
Hertzberg who supports Goltz. 

Number LXXVIIL of the ''Courier of the Lower 
Rhine" is so insolent, relative to the King of France 
and his Ambassador, that I imagine it would be proper 
to make a formal complaint. This might somewhat 
curb Hertzberg, who is the accomplice of Manson, 
and who may do us many other favors of a like nature, 
should this pass with impunity. You are not aware 
of the influence these gazettes have in Germany. 



LETTER XXXIII 

Magdeburg^ October gth, 1786. 
Leaving Berlin, I by chance discovered the person 
who has remained four days shut up in the apartment 
of the Prince of Hesse (of Rothembourg), who is 
no other than that Croisy, formerly St. Huberty, and 
once the husband of our celebrated St. Huberty, whose 
marriage was annulled. Counselor Bonneau of the 
Prince of Prussia, and relative to his own wife a bank- 



142 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

rupt, a forger, — in a word, a knight of industry, of the 
most despicable order, and concerning whom all for- 
eigners ask, 'Ts it possible such a man can be an officer 
in the French service?" I am no longer astonished 
that the Prince of Hesse should be coldly received by 
the King. To come expressly to lay the train to 
the mine of corruption; and to depend upon it 
as a certainty that the combustibles should catch 
lire, from a knowledge of the errors of the Sov- 
ereign; to found hopes of success on the ill 
opinion we have of him, and in a manner to pro- 
claim this knowledge, by a rapid journey from Paris 
to Berlin, destitute of all other pretext, since the Prince 
of Hesse and his minion have stayed only five days, 
and are already gone back to Paris, — this is at once to 
display foolish cunning and contemptible conduct. I 
imagine it is of importance that we should tell the 
King aloud, and with the strongly marked, ironical 
tone of disdain, which shall make him feel, without 
debasing ourselves to speak more openly, that this 
manceuvre was totally unknown to our Cabinet; for I 
am persuaded, from some half-phrases which I have 
heard those who wish us ill drop, that they do not 
desire anything better than to fix this blot upon us. 

I have traveled through Brandenburg to Magdeburg 
with Count Hatzfeldt, who had been sent by the Elec- 
tor of Mayence to compliment the King on his acces- 
sion, and Baron Geilling, sent for the same purpose 
by the Due de Deux-Ponts. The latter, formerly a 
captain of hussars in our service, is a handsome block- 
head, who could only have been chosen because he is 
the brother of Madame Eixbeck, the Duke's mistress. 
Count Hatzfeldt is a man of great urbanity, and 
whose knowledge and understanding are deserving 
of esteem. It seems he will remain some time at 
Berlin, that he may discover what shall be created out 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 143 

of the chaos. I conversed much on Mayence; the 
Elector is better, but does not promise any length of 
life. The two persons who, in all appearance, are 
most likely to succeed him are Feckenberg and Alberg. 
The first is wholly Austrian, the latter a man of abili- 
ties, of whom the highest opinion is entertained, whose 
political inclinations are little known, and who dissem- 
bles, like Sixtus V., while yet a monk. 

That Court at present seems to be exceedingly 
averse to the Emperor, who every day, indeed, by a 
multitude of traits, both private and public, and which 
are really inconceivable, increases universal hatred. It 
is impossible to depict the effect which his answer to 
the request of the Hungarians produced — (Pueri sunt 
pueri: pueri puerilia tractant) — together with the vio- 
lent abolition of all their privileges. But, on the one 
hand, the great landholders are at Vienna, there en- 
chained by their places, and almost kept under a 
guard, so that they are in truth the hostages of the 
slavery of the Hungarians; and, on the other, the 
aristocracy being excessively odious to the people, 
there is in this superb and formidable country neither 
unity of interest, nor center of concord. The regular 
troops are, besides, posted, and provided with artillery, 
supported by veterans, colonists, etc., etc. 

An Englishman, very much my friend, and a man 
of excellent observation, whom I have happened to 
meet with here, and who has visited all the camps of 
the Emperor, while speaking in raptures of those 
formidable pillars of his power, Hungary, Moravia, 
Bohemia, Galicia, etc., confesses that the inferiority of 
his troops, compared with the Prussian army, has 
infinitely surpassed his expectation. He affirms it is 
impossible, either relative to the individual or collec- 
tive information of the officers or to the military talents 
of the Emperor, which are in reality null, insomuch that 



144 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

he appears incapable of conceiving such complicated 
evolutions, — he affirms, I say, it is impossible to com- 
pare the two nations: with this difference, that the 
Emperor, like Cadmus, can make men spring out of 
the earth; and that the Prussian army, once annihi- 
lated, will be incapable of renovation, except from its 
treasury. Should a man once be seated upon the 
Austrian throne, there will be an end to the liberties 
of Europe. The health of the Emperor is supposed 
not to be good; his activity gradually decreases; he 
still, however, surpasses his real strength, but his pro- 
jects seem like the wishes of an expiring patient w^ho 
raves on recovery. He is supposed at present to be 
on very cool terms with the Empress of Russia. 



LETTER XXXIV 

Brunswick, October 14th, 1786. 
Though I ride post, you perceive it is not in the 
spirit of dissipation. Alas! what mode of life in 
reality less corresponds with my natural inclination 
than that indolent activity, if so I may call it, which 
hurries me into every tumult, and among the proud 
and fastidious, to the utter loss of time ! For such is 
the general consequence of the confusion of society 
among the Germans, who converse as they call it 
AMONG THEMSELVES although thirty persons should be 
present. Thus am I robbed of study, deprived of my 
favorite pursuits, my own thoughts, and forced inces- 
santly to comply with forms so foreign, not to say 
odious, to my nature. You yourself, who lead a life 
so full of hurry, but who, however, associate with the 
chosen few, in despite of all the gifts of nature, you 
must feel how difficult it is abruptly to pass from the 
buzz of men to the meditations of the closet. Yet is 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 145 

this indispensably necessary, in order to manage the 
ASIDE speeches, by which the current news of the day 
is acquired and consequences are divined. We must 
gallop five days with the Prince, and pursue all the 
physical and moral meanderings of the man, in public 
and in private, before we can obtain the right, or the 
opportunity, to ask him a question; or, which is bet- 
ter, to catch a w^ord, which may be equivalent both to 
question and answer. 

But who knows this better than you? I only wish 
you to understand my excursions are not the effect 
of chance, and still less of whim. Let me add that 
each of my journeys improves my local knowledge, a 
subject on which I have made it a law not to be easily 
satisfied. I hope that, among others, you will perceive 
by my memorial on Saxony, and by that on the Prus- 
sian States, which are, in reality, works of labor, and 
which you will not have a sight of for months to come, 
that I have profoundly studied the countries which I 
wished to understand, and as ardently in men as in 
books; with this difference, however, that I scarcely 
dare confide in the mere assertion of the best-informed 
man, unless he brings written proofs. The necessity 
of that species of superstitious conscientiousness, with 
which I am almost mechanically impressed, whenever 
I take up the pen, has been demonstrated to my own 
mind too often for it ever to forsake me. 

Yet whither am I traveling in this painful road? If 
I may depend on the few reports which your friend- 
ship has deigned to make me of the sensation which 
my dispatches have produced, when corrected, ar- 
ranged, and embellished by you ( for how is it possible 
for me to correct that which I write at the moment, 
by snatches, with lightning-like rapidity, and without 
having time to read?), they have given satisfaction. 
If I judge by the reiterated symptoms of the extreme 



146 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

inattention which long silence supposes, on questions 
the most important, on requests the most instan- 
taneous, and sometimes of absolute forgetfulness of 
the greatest part of these things, I should be induced 
to believe that my letters are read, at the most, with 
as much interest as a packet would be, the materials 
of which are tolerably clear and orderly, and that the 
reading produces not the least ultimate effect. Should 
this be so, is it worth the trouble (I put the cjuestion 
to you, whose energetic sentiments and high thoughts 
so often escape, notwithstanding all the contagion of 
levity, carelessness, egotism and inconsistency which 
exhale out of every door in the country which you 
inhabit), is it right, I say, that I should sacrifice, to 
an interest so subordinate as that of curiosity, my 
inclinations, my talents, my time and my powers? I 
believe you know me to be no quack, you know it is 
not my custom to speak of my pains, and of my labors, 
in fustian terms. Permit me, then, my good and dear 
friend, to protest that they both are great. I keep 
three men totally occupied in mechanically copying 
the materials I have arranged. I am assisted by the 
labor and the knowledge of several; all my moments, 
all my thoughts are there, thence depart, and thither 
return. Should the product be no greater (and I 
may say to you that you cannot 3^et estimate the whole 
product, for the greatest of my labors are still in my 
desk), it must either be the fault of my own incapacity 
or of my situation; perhaps of both, and perhaps also 
of the latter only. But here I am wholly, and, as a 
man of thirty-seven, ought not to be wholly, devoted 
to nullities; for nullities they are if nothing be pro- 
duced, nothing effected, either in behalf of myself or 
others. 

If, therefore, anything be produced, afford me some 
proof of it; and when, for example, I ask any question. 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 147 

for the purpose of more effectually executing my 
trust, let it be answered. When I say it is necessary I 
should have a plan of operations of such a kind to 
propose, because I shall be immediately questioned on 
the subject, and shall lose an opportunity which prob- 
ably may never be recovered should I be caught un- 
provided, let such a plan of operations be sent me. 

If all this is to have any good effect in my favor, let 
me be told so ; for in my present situation I have great 
need of encouragement, if it were but to empower me 
to yield without madness to the impulses of my zeal. 
I say without madness; for, to speak only of the vilest, 
but, notwithstanding, the most palpable of wants, 
when I perceive that I am very unable to make my 
accounts balance with the present appointments, ought 
I not to clog the down-hill wheel? And what have 
I to hope from these appointments, when I recollect 
how much they are in arrear; and that a change of 
Ministry may increase my personal debts with the 
sums which my friends have advanced me, for the ser- 
vice of those who cannot be ignorant I am myself in- 
capable of making such advances? Yet, should I 
stop, is there not an end to all utility from what I 
have hitherto effected? Shall I then have anything 
remaining except regret for time lost, and the deep, 
the rankling affliction of having attached people to my 
fortunes for whom I can do nothing but what must 
be an ill compensation, and at my own expense, for 
all which they have done for me? 

Pardon these expansions of the heart. To whom 
may I confide my anxieties, if not to you, my friend, 
my consolation, my guide, and my support ? To whom 
may I say, what is all this to me, since it does not 
produce me even money? For that I expend in the 
business I have undertaken, and not in private gratifi- 
cations. In truth, I should be susceptible of no other. 



148 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

were the hoped futurity come, and I had no depen- 
dents. You well know that money to me is nothing, 
at least when i have any. Where am I going, whither 
leading others ? Have I made a good bargain by bar- 
tering my life, stormy as it was, but so mingled with 
enjoyments of which it was not in human power to 
deprive me, for a sterile activity, which snatches me 
even from the frequent and delightful effusions of 
your friendship ? You are to me but a statesman ; you, 
for the pressure of whose hand I would relinquish all 
the thrones on earth. Alas, I am much better formed 
for friendship than for politics. 

Post Scriptum, began at Helmstadt, and finished at 
Brunswick, October 14th, 1786. 
They write from Silberberg, in Silesia, that the 
King's carriage has been overturned, and that he has 
received contusions on the head and on the arm. The 
coachman, it is added, expired on the place. The 
news reached me yesterday, at Magdeburg, and the 
same has been written to General Prittwitz; it prob- 
ably exceeds the truth, but is not wholly without foun- 
dation. The extreme agitation of the Duke of 
Brunswick, and my own emotions, made me pro- 
foundly feel the fortunes that rest on this Monarch's 
head. The Duke immediately sent off a courier, and, 
as I shall follow him to Brunswick, where he wishes 
to speak to me at large concerning Holland, I shall 
learn more circumstantial intelligence, and such as will 
be indubitable. I have not time to add a single word ; 
I write while the horses are changed. 

From Brunswick, October 14th, 1786. 
Not having found an opportunity of sending off 
these few lines, I continue. 

I arrived here two hours before the Duke. As soon 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 149 

as he came to Brunswick, he wrote to me with a 
pencil, on a sHp of paper : 

'T spoke yesterday evening, before I departed, with 
the Minister Count Schulemburg, who had left Berlin 
on the eleventh. He is in absolute ignorance of the 
alarming intelligence by which we were so much 
affected, and, as I have heard nothing on the subject 
since, I begin to have better hopes. I expect my 
courier will arrive early in the morning. I write you 
this. Monsieur le Comte, from my mother's, and I hope 
you will do me the favor to come to me early to- 
morrow morning and dine with us." 

It appears to be very probable that no material harm 
has happened to the Sovereign. 

The splendor of the talents and urbanity of the Duke 
appeared perfect at Magdeburg. Nothing could be 
more awful than his manoeuvres, nothing so instructive 
as his school, nothing so finished, so connected, so 
perfect, as his conduct in every respect. He was the 
subject of admiration to a great number of foreigners, 
who had crowded to Magdeburg, and he certainly 
stood in no need of the contrast which the Duke of 
Weimar and the Prince of Dessau afforded, the latter 
the weakest of men, the former industriously laboring 
to be something, but ill-provided with requisites, if 
we are to judge him by appearances. He might and 
ought to become a Prince of importance. According 
to all probabilities, however, Saxony will devolve on 
him for want of children in the Electoral branch, and it 
is an afflicting perspective to contemplate the destruc- 
tion of all the labors of the worthy Prince who at 
present governs the country, and who, tormented in 
his childhood, unhappy in youth, and truly respectable 
in manhood, will, perhaps, descend to the tomb with 
the bitter affliction of feeling that all the good he has 
done will be rendered ineffectual. 



I50 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

I have learned a fact, which will afford some 
pleasure to M. de Segur, if he be still living. A 
foundry has been built at Hanover, at a great expense, 
which has cost the King of England near one hundred 
thousand livres. The Duke of Brunswick, not being 
satisfied with his own foundry, had two cannons cast 
at Hanover, and they were so ill-cast that they were 
soon obliged to be laid aside. It is not to be supposed, 
when we recollect the connections between the Duke 
and the King of England, that this was occasioned by 
any trick in the founders; the fact, therefore, is a 
proof that they are bad workmen. 

By the next courier I hope to send you the exact 
result of the dispositions of Berlin, and the Duke, 
relative to Holland. He has promised me a precise 
statement of the propositions which appear to him 
necessary, and he did not conceal the extreme desire he 
had that they should be accepted by France. These 
Dutch disturbances daily present a more threatening 
aspect for the repose of Europe — if not at the present 
moment, at least from future contingencies, and the 
coolness and distrust to which they will give rise. 



LETTER XXXV 

Brunswick, October i6th, 1786. 
The two conversations I have had with the Duke 
have hitherto been but vague respecting Holland, and 
indeed almost foreign to the subject. His courier, 
having brought him the news of hopes of an accommo- 
dation, and of the retreat of the person who of all 
those concerned with M. de Vayrac was supposed to be 
the chief firebrand, having, in fine, brought him de- 
tails which led him to imagine that his interference 
will not be necessary, or not yet wanted in Holland, 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 151 

he passed rapidly over the country to come to one 
which is of infinitely greater importance to him; I 
mean to say Prussia. He only discovered himself 
to be greatly averse to the party of the Stadtholder, 
and well convinced that the right of presentation ought 
to remain such as it was in its origin ; that the constitu- 
tion of Gueldres, Frieseland, and Utrecht evidently 
was in want of reformation, with respect to the incon- 
ceivable regulation of the magistrates, who are re- 
vocable ad niitum; that, in a word, the Prince, who 
from absolute monarchical authority, which he in 
reality possessed, was sunken into absolute discredit, 
by conduct the most abject, and the folly of having 
claimed that as a right, in contempt of all law, all 
decency, and all popular prejudice, which he effectually 
possessed, was not deserving of the least support; but 
that, from respect to Prussia, and particularly to re- 
tard commotions, it was requisite to restore him the 
decorum of pageantry, — except that watch should be 
kept over his connections. And here he explained 
himself on the subject of Harris, and even concerning 
Prince Louis of Brunswick, nearly in the manner I 
should have done myself. In conclusion, however, he 
not only did not inform me of anything on the subject, 
but he imperceptibly declined that debate which a few 
days before he had provoked. 

I repeat, there is some news arrived of which I am 
ignorant, that has occasioned this change in his pro- 
ceedings. My information is in general much too con- 
fined. Thus, for example, it is very singular, nor is it 
less embarrassing, and to speak plainly, it is tolerably 
ridiculous, that it should be the Duke who should in- 
form me of the treaty of commerce signed between 
France and England, not one of the articles of which 
I am acquainted with, and on which occasion I knew 
not what face to wear. As my usual method is not to 



152 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

conceal myself behind any veil of mystery, which hides 
the insignificance of certain Ambassadors, the part I 
had to act was not a little difficult. I should learn a 
thousand times more were I myself better informed. 
In this, as in everything else, fortune follows the suc- 
cessful. 

Returning to Prussia, it was quite a different affair, 
for of this I know as much as the Duke. His confi- 
dence was the less limited, and the more profuse, be- 
cause I presently set him at his ease with respect to 
Prince Henry, whom he neither loves nor esteems. I 
perceived with inquietude that his opinions and fears 
are similar to my own. He is dissatisfied with most 
of the proceedings and public acts of the King, with 
that crowd of titles, and that mass of nobility, which 
has been added so prodigally ; insomuch that it will be 
henceforward much more difficult to find a man than 
a nobleman in the Prussian States; with the promise 
made to the Prince of Dessau (whose only merit is 
such an excess of enthusiasm for mysticism and vis- 
ionaries that, when Lavater came to Bremen, he ad- 
dressed the most earnest supplications to him to come 
and pay him a visit, in order that he might adore him), 
and perhaps with that given to the Duke of Weimar 
(who to the same inclinations, and more lively pas- 
sions, adds greater understanding; but who is too 
much in debt for his military projects to be otherwise 
regarded than as a money speculation), to restore the 
one and to admit the other into the Prussian service; 
by which rank in the army will be violated, and the 
army discouraged and vitiated, — a system very op- 
posite to that of Frederick II., who said of the few 
grandees who were employed in his time, " In the 
name of God, my dear Moellendorf, rid me of these 
Princes." The Duke is equally dissatisfied with that 
fluctuation which occasions essays to be made on 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 153 

twenty systems at once ; with the most of the persons 
chosen; with domestic disorder; with nocturnal rites, 
and with the anecdotes the augury of which from day 
to day becomes more inauspiciously characteristic, etc., 
etc. In a word, should I transcribe our conversation, 
I should but send new copies of old dispatches. 

" Beheve me," said he, '' I may, in a certain degree, 
serve you as a thermometer, for if I perceive there are 
no hopes of a firm and noble regimen, and that there- 
fore the day of the House of Brandenburg is come, I 
shall not be the last to sound a retreat. I never re- 
ceived money from the King of Prussia, and I am well 
determined never to accept anything from him, though 
I mean to remain in the service. It has, as you 
have seen, been a dear service to me. I am indepen- 
dent. I wish to pay a tribute of respect to the 
memory of the great man who is no more, and am 
ready to shed my blood, if that might cement his work; 
but I will not, even by my presence, become the ac- 
complice of its demolition. Our debts never exceed 
our abilities. I shall provide in the best manner in 
my power for my country and my children; these I 
shall leave in great order. I keep up my family con- 
nections. We perhaps shall be the last who will be 
smitten by the overthrow of the Germanic body, be- 
cause of the confraternity which unites us to the Elec- 
tor of Hanover. I, therefore, shall no further follow 
the destiny of the Prussian monarchy than as its Gov- 
ernment shall maintain its wisdom, its dignity, etc., 
etc." 

At present the Duke despairs of nothing; and in 
this he is right. He supposes that no person has yet 
found his proper place. I think like him, and I per- 
ceive he hopes his turn will come; of this neither can 
I doubt, unless the annihilation of the Prussian power 
has been decreed by fate. 



154 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

He has informed me of the very singular fact that 
M. de Custine, the father, has demanded to be ad- 
mitted into the service of the King of Prussia, and has 
pretended to disclose all the hostile plans of the Em- 
peror, whose alliance, nevertheless, this same M. de 
Custine loudly affirms will terminate, with France, 
the day that Prince Kaunitz dies. 

The Duke is very far from being relieved of all 
his fears concerning the projects of the Emperor, 
whose puissance and advisers he holds in infinite dread. 
True it is that his inconsistency should render his de- 
signs and the execution of them abortive; that the ir- 
rationality of his personal conduct should hasten his 
end ; that the Archduke Francis appears to be a cipher ; 
that among the persons who have influence there is not 
one formidable man, especially in the army; and that 
Alventzy and Kinsky, the one manufacturer for the 
infantry, and the other for the cavalry, possess only 
ambiguous abilities, etc. But men start up at the 
moment when they are least expected ; accident only is 
necessary to rank them in their proper place. Conde, 
Spinola, and the Duke of Brunswick himself, prove 
that it is possible to be born a general. There is a 
Prince of Waldeck in the Austrian army, who, it is 
said, announces grand talents. 

The numerous, trifling anecdotes, which the Duke 
and I have mutually related to each other, would be 
too tedious for insertion, and out of their place also 
here. An anecdote, merely as such, is equally devoid 
of propriety and information; such will have their 
turn hereafter; but there is one which relates too much 
to the Russian system for it to be passed over in si- 
lence. 

The Czarina has, for some months past, appro- 
priated to herself the possession and the revenues of 
the posts of Courland, leaving a small part only to the 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 155 

Duke, in order that this branch of administration might 
not appear to be wholly in the hands of foreigners. 
Thus does this same Russia, that maintains an envoy at 
Courland, although there is none at Courland from 
Petersburg, and that here, as in Poland, proclaims her 
will to the Duke and to the States, by her Ambassador, 
who is the real Sovereign of the country, — this Rus- 
sia, that for some years past, has unequivocally and 
openly declared that a certain canton of Courland ap- 
pertained to her, and without seeking any other pre- 
text than that of giving a more uniform line to her 
limits, makes no secret of not understanding any other 
code, any other claims, any other manifestoes, than 
those which the Gauls alleged to the Etruscans — " Our 
right exists in our arms. Whatever the strong can 
seize upon that is the right of the strong." She will 
one of these days declare Courland is hers, that the 
Polish Ukraine is hers, and that Finland is hers. And, 
for example, this latter revolution, which will be a very 
salutary one to her because she will then truly become 
unattackable, and almost inaccessible, to all Europe 
united, will be effected, whenever she shall make the 
attempt, if we do not take good heed. Whenever the 
time may come that I shall be informed of this having 
taken place, and even of the new system of Sweden 
being totally overthrown, I shall not feel any sur- 
prise. 

The Duke also told me that the Emperor is greatly 
improving his artillery; that his six-pounders are 
equivalent in force to our former eight-pounders ; and 
to this advantage they add that of lightness, in so great 
a degree, that only four horses are necessary to draw 
them, while even in Prussia six are still requisite. As 
well as I remember he attributes this double improve- 
ment to the CONICAL construction of the chamber. I 
only relate this that you may verify the truth of the 



156 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

fact by people who are acquainted with such affairs; 
the diminution of two horses in eight being a thing 
of infinite importance, and the more so as there would 
be a servant the less. 

The manner in which I have been received by the 
Duke was infinitely friendly on his part, though some- 
what participating, as far as relates to freedom of con- 
versation, of my equivocal mode of existence at Berlin. 
I believe I may, without presumption, affirm I am 
not disagreeable to this Prince, and that, were I ac- 
credited by any commission whatever, I should be one 
of most proper persons to treat with him with efficacy. 
This able man appears to me to have but one weak- 
ness, which is the prodigious dread of having his repu- 
tation injured, even by the most contemptible Zoilus. 
Yet has he lately exposed himself to vexatious blame 
in deference to his first Minister, M. von Feronce, 
which I cannot comprehend. This M. von Feronce, 
and M. von Munchausen, Grand Master of the Court, 
a man who is reported to have little delicacy con- 
cerning money matters, have farmed the lottery, — an 
action shameful in itself, and which I cannot reconcile 
to Von Feronce, who is really a man of merit. Two 
merchants, named Oeltz and Nothnagel, have gained a 
qiiaterne, which is equivalent to the sum of eighteen 
thousand crowns. The payment of this has not only 
been refused, but as it was necessary to act wnth fraud 
to effect their purpose, the merchants have undergone 
numerous oppressions; they have even been impris- 
oned; all which acts they have lately published in a 
printed case, which contains nothing but the facts con- 
cerning the suit, and have laid an appeal against the 
Duke, or against his judges, before the tribunal of 
Wetzlar; I own I do not understand this absence of 
firmness, or of circumspection. 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 157 



October 17th, 1786. 
Postscript. — I have just received authentic intelli- 
gence concerning the King of Prussia. It was one of 
his chasseurs to whom a very serious accident hap- 
pened; the Monarch himself is in good health, and will 
arrive on the eighteenth or the nineteenth at Berlin. 

I learn, at the same time, that Count Finckenstein is 
dying of an inflammation of the lungs, with which he 
was seized after a very warm altercation with Count 
Hertzberg, on the subject of Holland. His life is de- 
spaired of, and his loss to us will be very great ; as well 
because he was absolutely ours, as because that, being 
a temporizer by nature, he would have acted as the 
moderator of Prince Henry. He would also have di- 
rected the conduct of Mademoiselle Voss, after the 
fall of virtue; and finally because Hertzberg will no 
longer have any counterpoise. With respect to the 
latter point, however, I am not averse to suppose that 
the time when this presumptuous man shall be in abso- 
lute discredit may but be the more quickly accelerated. 
Yet, not to mention the sterility of subjects by which 
this epoch may be retarded, who shall answer that a 
man so violent, and wholly imbued as he is with the 
hatred which the Germans in general bear the French, 
will not venture to make some very decisive false 
steps ? 

The Duke of York arrived here this evening, and 
had he been the Emperor he could not have been 
treated with more respect, especially by the Duchess 
and the courtiers. She, indeed, is wholly English, 
as well in her inclinations and her principles as in her 
manners; insomuch that her almost cynical indepen- 
dence, opposed to the etiquette of the Courts of Ger- 
man Princes, forms the most singular contrast I know. 
I do not, however, believe that there is any question 



158 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

concerning the marriage of the Princess CaroHne, who 
is a most amiable, Hvely, playful, witty, and handsome 
lady; the Duke of York, a puissant hunter, a potent 
drinker, an indefatigable laugher, destitute of breed- 
ing and politeness, and who possesses, at least in ap- 
pearance, much of the Duke de Lauzun, as well in 
mind as in person, is inspired w^ith a kind of passion 
for a woman married to a jealous husband, who tor- 
ments him, and will not suffer him to fix his quarters. 
I know not whether he will go to Berlin. The versions 
relative to him are various. Some affirm that, after 
having been an unbridled libertine, he feels a return- 
ing desire of doing his duty. For my own part, I 
find in him all the stiffness of a German Prince, with 
a double dose of English insolence, but wanting the 
free cordiality of that nation. 



LETTER XXXVI 

Brunswick, October 27th, 1786. 
I HERE send you the continuation and conclusion of the 
preceding dispatch, to which I add the translation of 
a pamphlet, the singularity of which is increased by 
its having appeared at Vienna, with the permission of 
the Emperor ; who, to the communication made by the 
censor, has added these very words, " Let this pass 
among others." 

This is but a trifle compared to that caprice which 
three days afterwards induced him to release the lui- 
fortunate Szekely, whom the most powerful remon- 
strances could not save, and whose cause is here ill 
enough defended. For what conclusions might he not 
have drawn from the confidence with which he im- 
parted to the Emperor the situation of his accounts. 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 159 

from the disorder by which they had been brought into 
this state, from the ardent suppHcations he made him 
to purchase for the pubhc a well-tried chemical secret 
at such a price as would have completed the deficiency 
in his accounts (I say completed, for Szekely and his 
family had paid the greatest part of the deficiencies), 
and from the answer of the Emperor himself, — '' Do 
you address yourself to me as a friend, or as to the 
Emperor? If to the former, I cannot be the friend of 
a man who has not been faithful to his trust. If as 
Emperor, I would advise you to go in person and 
make your declaration to the Courts of Justice." 

This fact, which I have learned since my arrival at 
Berlin, attended with most aggravating circumstances, 
is one of the most odious I can recollect, yet might I 
relate fifty of the same species. 

Free Observations on the Crime and Punishment of 
Lieutenant-Colonel Szekely^ of the Guards, by a 
Friend of Truth, 1786. 

Let the voice of Truth be heard, let her at present 
be seen without disguise, without veil, in all her awful 
nakedness. Hear, ye incorrupt judges. I am about to 
speak of the crime and punishment of Szekely. My 
heart melts, but my words shall be impartial. Hear 
and pronounce sentence on me, on Szekely, and on 
those who pronounced sentence on him. 

Szekely announces a deficiency in the regimental 
chest of the guards, and the disorder of his accounts; 
and after some pretended examinations is brought be- 
fore the Council of War. Ninety-seven thousand 
florins of the Empire have disappeared; but Szekely 
had placed his whole confidence in the Sieur Lakner, 
who is deceased, and who was the only keeper of the 
keys of the chest. Szekely had more than once de- 



i6o MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

clared that he himself was a very improper person to 
have pecuniary matters committed to his charge, and 
that he never had revised nor verified the accounts of 
the regimental chest confided to his care. He there- 
fore cannot be suspected of personal fraud, especially 
when his regiment renders justice to the goodness of 
his manners, and unanimously points out the cashier 
Lakner as a person who was debased by meanness, 
and rendered suspicious by incurring expenses in- 
finitely above his fortune. 

This, it is very true, was an exceedingly culpable 
negligence, but such was the only crime of Szekely; 
and it was for this reason that the Council of War 
condemned him to be imprisoned six years in a for- 
tress. The punishment was doubtless in itself suf- 
ficient, since Szekely, in effect, and according to the 
language of the civilians, was Ncc confesstis nee eon- 
vietus of any prevarication; yet was it aggravated by 
the Aulic Council of War, which was commanded to 
make a revision of the process, and which increased his 
detention to a duration of eight years. Was this tri- 
bunal ignorant, then, that it is a custom with our 
MOST GRACIOUS Monarch himself to increase the sever- 
ity of all sentences, pronounced against criminals? 
Let us, therefore, believe that the judges, on this oc- 
casion, were only obedient to the rigor of the laws ; but 
the after decision of the Emperor will most assuredly 
appear inconceivable. The following is the judgment 
which this Monarch uttered — Yes! uttered, yet did 
not blush : 

" Szekely must, without hesitation, be broken, de- 
clared incapable of military service, and delivered over 
to the civil ofiicer, who shall convey him to the place 
where the crime was committed in Vienna, where he 
shall stand in the pillory for three successive days, and 
remain two hours each day on a scaffold, in the high 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG i6i 

market place, that his example may be of public utility. 
As a favor and in consequence of his age, I limit the 
eight years' imprisonment to which he is condemned 
to four, during which he shall be confined at Segedin, 
a penal prison of the civil power of the Hungarian 
States, where he shall receive the same allowance for 
food as is granted to other criminals." 

The Court of Justice made remonstrances to the 
Emperor, in which it proved that the punishment was 
much too severe, and entirely contrary to law and to 
equity ; but the Emperor continued inflexible, and thus 
confirmed his sentence. 

" All superintendents of military chests might, like 
Szekely, plead that they knew not what was become of 
the money, even though it should have been stolen by 
themselves. Whenever there is a deficiency in any 
chest, and especially of a sum so considerable as ninety- 
seven thousand florins, and there is no necessity for the 
judge to prove that the money has been taken by the 
accused person, but the accused person must show that 
it has not been taken by him; and whenever he can- 
not demonstrate this he himself is the thief. As soon 
as Szekely shall have been broken, and shall be no 
longer an officer, the sentence against him shall be put 
in execution, and a paper shall be fixed round his neck 
on which shall be written — An unfaithful stew- 
ard." 

Let us take an attentive retrospect of these supreme 
decisions. 

Szekely is punishable for having been exceedingly 
negligent; he is the same for having bestowed his 
whole confidence on a dishonest cashier, of whose 
pompous luxury he could not be ignorant, since it gave 
offense to the whole corps of the guards. It was easy 
to conclude that such a man could not live at an ex- 
pense so great on his paternal income. It is even prob- 



i62 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

able that Szekely himself, perceiving the disorder of 
his accounts, and the deficiency in his chest, and terri- 
fied by the infamy and punishment inflicted on such 
crimes, sacrificed much to alchemy and the occult 
sciences, in the hope of making gold, and thus freeing 
himself from his embarrassments. This, no doubt, 
was a folly at which all men of sense would grieve; 
it is not, however, the less possible. It is certain that 
the love of chemistry was the ruling passion of 
Szekely, and that he indulged his inclinations the 
more because he expected sometime thus to recover 
his losses. To this excuse let us add the extreme igno- 
rance of which he accused himself in all that related to 
pecuniary affairs. 

True it is that, with such a conviction of his own 
incapacity, he never ought to have taken charge of a 
regimental chest; but were all those who are in pos- 
session of places, the duties of which are far beyond 
their abilities, obliged to abdicate them, what vast des- 
erts would our public offices afford! Rabner en- 
courages three different species of men, by saying 
" On whom God bestows an office he also bestows a 
sufficient degree of understanding for the exercise of 
that office." Szekely would not indubitably have 
adopted this opinion, could he have foreseen the evil 
consequences of his presumption. 

Was not that flattering letter which was addressed 
to him by Maria Theresa, of glorious memory, in 
which, while she gave the highest praises to his probity 
and loyalty, this august Sovereign confided to his care, 
without any caution, the regimental chest of the 
guards, an authentic testimony in behalf of his honor ? 
Has it been meant by the forgetfulness of this distinc- 
tion to add a new outrage to all the ingratitudes with 
which some have sullied themselves, relative to this 
immortal Empress? Was it intended to tax her with 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 163 

that levity, that silly credulity, which blind confidence 
produces? Alas! in despite of all the defects which 
envy so gratuitously imputes to her, Maria Theresa 
never was surrounded by such an army of knaves as 
those from whom all the rigor of the present Sovereign 
cannot preserve us. So true is it that gentleness and 
love, from a Prince toward his subjects, are more effica- 
cious means, to preserve them within the bounds of 
duty, than all the violent acts tyranny can commit. 

I return to Szekely and affirm it is impossible that 
this letter from the Empress Queen, though in some 
sort the pledge of the fidelity of Szekely, can serve as 
an excuse to the Prince of Esterhazy, whose personal 
negligence cannot be justified. Did not his right, as 
chief of the guards, impose it on him as a law to ex- 
amine the regimental chest of Szekely? And is not 
such an infraction of the duties of his place most re- 
prehensible ? 

Still less can be offered in defense of the fault com- 
mitted by the Hungaro-Transylvanian Chancery; 
since according to its instructions, it was in like man- 
ner bound to inspect the administration of Szekely. 
But none of the acts of this superior Court ought to 
inspire astonishment, since it is no longer distin- 
guished, except by disorder and ill faith; since its re- 
sponsibility is no longer anything but a word; and 
since its ideas of exact calculation, and of receipt and 
expense, are exactly as just as those of Brambille are 
on physic. 

Judges, ye have condemned Szekely. Be it so. Act 
worthy of your office. Punish his superintendents 
also, who have by a non-performance of their duty 
placed him on the brink of that abyss into which you 
headlong plunged him; without humanity, and void of 
shame. 

The Kings of Europe have all reserved to them- 
6 — Memoirs "Vol. 5 



i64 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

selves the most benevolent of prerogatives; that of 
pardoning the guilty, or of softening the pains the 
sentence inflicts by which they are condemned. Joseph 
alone persists in other principles, more conformable 
to the feelings of his heart. He aggravates the pun- 
ishment of the wretched. Alas ! this no doubt is but to 
enjoy the ecstatic pleasure of terrifying his people, by 
the exercise of the most unlimited despotism. Unfor- 
tunate Szekely ! Ill-starred man ! I pity thee. Thou 
fallest a victim to the splenetic temper of the Monarch ! 
Perhaps, at the very instant when he pronounced thy 
doom, a troublesome fly stung his brow, and thy dis- 
honor was his vengeance. Deplorable sacrifice of a 
tyrannical and barbarous heart, yes, I pity thee. Men 
of worth, men of justice, what must the Monarch be 
who can add to the rigor of the Judge? — A tyrant! 
What can the Monarch be who tramples under foot 
the rights of humanity ? — A tyrant ! ! What can the 
Monarch be who can make the laws and the justice of 
his kingdom his sport? — A tyrant!!! What can the 
Monarch be who in criminal decisions shall act only 
according to his caprice ? — A Joseph ! ! ! ! 

A Joseph !— Oh, God ! Great God ! What then is 
man? A poor and feeble creature, whom an imperious 
oppressor may at any moment reduce to dust; or may 
rend his heart, extort his last sight, by the seven thou- 
sand raging torments which the Hydras with seven 
thousand heads in sport inflicts. 

Dreadful image! Ignominious to humanity, yet 
woefully true, woefully exact, woefully confirmed by 
experience! Does not a Sovereign who increases the 
rigor of sentences openly proclaim : " Ye Judges, 
whom I have appointed to judge according to law and 
equity, ye are prevaricators; ye have betrayed your 
trust, falsified your consciences, and have endeavored 
to practice deceit upon me ? " Such magistrates, there- 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 165 

fore, ought not to be continued in office ; for, to suffer 
them still to be Judges is to approve their conduct, 
and confirm their judgment. But, destructive as the 
thunderbolt, the Monarch, addressing them, exclaims: 
"Your sentence is too mild ! It is my will arbitrarily to 
increase punishment, that I may prove myself the 
master of life and death 1 " What language, oh, God! 
from the mouth of a King whom thou hast appointed 
to be our protector, and not our tyrant ! 

Szekely would never have been condemned, had he 
not been intimately connected with the Freemasons. 
When the Emperor pronounced sentence against this 
unfortunate man, he forgot himself so far as to say, 
"I will let those gentry (the Freemasons) understand 
there is no efficacy in their protection." 

Where, then, is the equity of a Monarch who thus 
prostitutes the power he is in possession of, to the de- 
struction of one of the members of a society which he 
detests? Who would not smile contemptuously at 
the poor malice of a peasant who should go in search 
of his neighbor, after twilight, that he might unseen 
give him a fillip on the nose, run away, and divert 
himself with having played him so cunning a trick. 
Oh, Justice! Justice! Shalt thou forever have eyes 
that thou mayst not see? 

Yes, debased, corrupted was the mouth which in- 
creased the rigor of the sentence of Szekely, who 
previously had been destined to languish eight years in 
prison. Joseph has diminished the term of his de- 
tention. And are these, then, thy favors, sceptered 
executioner? Yes, this favor granted to a man of 
quality, who was for three successive days exposed in 
the pillory, resembles that which a criminal, condemned 
to the gallows, should receive from thee, whom thou 
shouldst permit to be racked upon the wheel, because 
he was too feeble to mount the ladder. 



i66 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

Couldst thou have survived the shame of such a 
crime, had not thy people themselves applauded thy 
fury? The curiosity with which all Vienna enjoyed 
the spectacle the wretched Szekely afforded, proves 
that the manners of thy subjects already partake of 
thine own barbarity. But let them tremble, slaves as 
they are, bowed beneath the yoke. A new Nero 
promises new crimes, new horrors! 



LETTER XXXVII 

Brunswick, October iSth, 1786. 
I FEAR there are some waverings in the mind of the 
King, relative to Holland ; for the Duke, after the ar- 
rival of his courier, and receiving information of the 
danger of Count Finckenstein, again spoke to me on 
the subject, with a degree of inquietude which was far 
from dissembled. The following were his precise 
words : " Holland will certainly occasion a war, espe- 
cially should the death of the Elector of Bavaria in- 
tervene; do you act, therefore, as mediators to smoth- 
er the rising flames. Come, come, the Stadtholder 
must have a council, without which he can perform 
nothing; and how shall this council be selected?" 

I replied to the Duke that I was not sufficiently ac- 
quainted with those affairs to give any opinion on the 
subject, but that I was going to make him a proposi- 
tion which he must regard as only ideal, and as coming 
from myself, although it might by no means be im- 
practicable. 

'' Now that I know how far I can depend upon your 
prudence and your principles," I continued, " I am cer- 
tain that you will see the affairs and the conduct of the 
Stadtholder in their true light ; that you will not imag- 
ine friendship in politics can have any other basis than 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 167 

interests; or that we ought to renounce our alliance 
with Holland, in order that the Princess of Orange 
may nightly enjoy more agreeable dreams; that you 
cannot but compretiend how much it is impossible for 
us to place any confidence in Count Hertzberg, who, 
relative to us, is frantic, and how much our distrust 
may be increased should our sole counterpoise to this 
violent Minister disappear by the death of Count 
Finckenstein. I shall, therefore, thus far, willingly 
step forward to say that it appears to me very 
probable that France will be inclined to treat on this 
affair with you singly, should the King of Prussia 
consent that you should be solely trusted with the 
business on his behalf; and, as I may say, should you 
be made arbitrator. I feel how important it is to you, 
to us, and to all, that you should not endanger your- 
self in the opinion of his Majesty. There are already 
but too many causes of distance existing between you, 
and the country is entirely lost if the necessities of 
the times do not oblige you to take the helm. But, 
should you find the crisis so alarming as to dread de- 
cisive events should be the consequence, it appears to 
me that then it will no longer be proper to keep beating 
against the wind. For, if the King of Prussia be 
fated to commit irreparable faults, it would be as well 
for all parties that he should begin to-morrow, in 
order that we might the sooner augur what his reign 
shall be, and choose our sides in consequence. It is 
for you, therefore, to know in what degree of favor 
you are with the King. He cannot love you ; for never 
yet did the weak man love the strong. He cannot 
desire you should be his Minister, for never yet did a 
vain and dark man desire to possess one who was him- 
self illustrious and luminous. But it is neither his 
friendship nor his inclination that are necessary to 
you; it is power. You ought to acquire that ascend- 



i68 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

ency over him which a grand character and a vast 
genius may ever acquire over a confined understand- 
ing and an unstable mind. If you have enough of 
this ascendency to inspire him with fears for his situ- 
ation; to convince him that he is already betrayed to 
danger; that the sending of Goertz, in your despite 
(or, rather, without your knowledge, for you were 
not then at Berlin), is a blunder of magnitude, which 
has been committed without possessing the least pledge 
of docility on the part of the Stadtholder; that the 
inconsiderate letters of Hertzberg form another equal 
blunder; that this Minister pursues his personal 
INTERESTS^ and those only, at the hazard or depriving 
his master of personal respect, even from the com- 
mencement of his reign; since it is very evident that, 
if he persist in his thoughtless interference (be sup- 
positions as favorable, nay, almost as romantic, as you 
please), he will only have played the cards of the Eng- 
lish, although they have spoiled their own game — if 
you can make him sensible of all this, you will easily 
be able to persuade him that he will but be too fortu- 
nate in accepting your mediation. And, although 
mediation is not exactly the phrase which may be 
employed, because it does not exactly square with the 
rule of proportion, such is the esteem in which you are 
held by the Cabinet of Versailles that, should this 
negotiation once be committed to your care, all diffi- 
culties wall vanish of themselves. Such a measure, 
therefore, would have the double advantage of accom- 
modating the affair, which you regard as the brand 
of discord, and of teaching the King to feel that 
he presumes too much if he imagines that, by the sole 
magic of the abrupt and tiidescan French of Count 
Hertzberg, he will be able to preserve the same re- 
spect for his Court which a succession of great acts, 
heroical prosperity, vigilant activity, and perseverance, 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 169 

even to a miracle, for forty-six years, have procured 
it; that he has need of a man whose name abroad and 
whose influence at home should attract confidence and 
serve as the keystone to an arch which, according to 
its dimensions, has but little solidity; or, to speak 
without a metaphor, a kingdom, ill-situated, ill-con- 
stituted, ill-governed, and which possesses no real 
strength, except in opinion, since its military position 
is wretched and its resources precarious. For, with 
respect to the treasury, it will vanish if a hand of iron, 
yet not a hand of avarice, should not guard it; and, 
as to an army, who can be more convinced than you 
are, that years scarcely are sufficient for its formation ; 
but that six months of relaxed discipline may degrade 
it so that it shall no longer be cognizable ? " 

This discourse, which fixed the attention of the 
Duke, and which was particularly intended to divine 
what he himself imagined he might be able to accom- 
plish, and what he might become, appeared to produce 
a very great effect. Instead of beginning, as he al- 
ways does, by ambiguous and dilatory phrases, which 
may serve any purpose he shall please, he immediately 
entered into the spirit of my discourse, and, after hav- 
ing felt and owned, with an effusion of heart and a 
penetrating tone, that I presented him a prospect of the 
greatest honor his imagination could conceive, and 
which he should prefer to the gaining of six victories, 
he joined with me in endeavoring to find some means 
of making the overture to the King. 

" I do not imagine," said he, " my situation will au- 
thorize the attempt without previous measures. I am 
more afraid of injuring the cause than of injuring 
myself, but it is certainly necessary the project should 
be conveyed to him, and, should he afford the least 
opportunity, I will explain everything. Cannot you 
speak to Count Finckenstein, should he recover ? " 



170 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

" No, for he strictly confines himself to his depart- 
ment. Neither is this anything more than an idea of 
my own, and of small diplomatic value, since I have 
no credentials." 

" You have but few opportunities of speaking in 
private to Welner ? " 

" Very few. Besides, how can that man ever be 
devoted to you? He determines to act the principal 
part himself. He is industrious for his own interest, 
being very sensible that, because of his obscurity, he 
has an immense advantage over you, not to mention 
that he is the intimate friend of your brother, who 
does not wish your company at Berlin." 

In fact, this brother hates the Duke, by whom he is 
despised, and hopes for favor and influence under the 
reign of mysticism. 

We had proceeded thus far in our discourse when 
the whole Court, leaving the opera for supper, and 
the Duke of York, by entering without any precursor, 
obliged us to break off. He has appointed to meet 
me this morning, the day of my departure, at nine 
o'clock, and to him I am now going. 

The Duke, as I expected, was shaken to-day in his 
resolution of having himself named to the King. I 
say as I expected, for his brilliant imagination and 
ambitious energy easily catch fire at his first emotions, 
although he should betray no exterior symptoms ex- 
cept those of tranquillity. But the rein he has so long 
put upon his passions, which he has eternally had un- 
der command, and in which habit he has been most 
persevering, reconducts him to the hesitation of expe- 
rience, and to that superabundant circumspection 
which his great diffidence of mankind, and his foible, 
I mean his dread of losing his reputation, incessantly 
inspire. He made a circumstantial display of the deli- 
cacy with which the petty glory, or, to speak plainly, 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 171 

said he, the vainglory of the King must be managed. 

Taking up the conversation at the point where we 
had left it, he assured me that, with respect to Welner, 
I was deceived ; that he was one of the persons in Ber- 
lin on whom he depended, and who rather wished to 
see him in power than any other; that I might easily 
speak with him at the house of Moulines (his Resi- 
dent, an artful man, but too ostensibly artful, ready to 
serve that he may better perform his office of spy, but 
proffering his services with too much facility; ap- 
pointed to take part in the education of the Prince of 
Prussia, but, hitherto, without any title; a deserter 
from Prince Henry, since it has become pretty evident 
the Prince will never be in power; inclined to serve 
France, in general, and, indeed too visibly, for he is 
styled the Privy Counselor of Comte d'Esterno, but, 
in his heart, solely attached to himself) ; that Welner 
goes there very often; that he certainly would not 
speak openly, at first, but that he would at length 
repeat to the King whatever I should say. 

The Duke often reiterated that he thought it useless 
and dangerous for him to be named; and, in fine, al- 
though with difficulty, and, as I may say, against his 
inclination, he gave me the true reason. In a fort- 
night, he was to be at Berlin, or, perhaps, sooner, for 
(take particular notice of what follows) it appears 

THAT THE HOPE AFFORDED BY SiR JaMES HaRRIS 

(the English Ambassador at The Hague) of a pow- 
erful AND EFFICACIOUS SUCCOR, SHOULD TH^ KiNG 

OF Prussia resolve, with an armed force, to cre- 
ate HIMSELF UMPIRE OF THE AFFAIRS OF HOLLAND, 
HAS INSPIRED THE KiNG WITH A WISH TO CONFER 

WITH HIS SERVANTS. I literally repeat the words the 
Duke pronounced, who fixed his eyes upon me, but 
whom I defy not only to have observed the least trait 
of emotion in my countenance, but still more not to 



172 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

have been struck with a smile, almost imperceptible 
and very ironical, as if I had known and contemned 
the fact. My only reply at the end of his sentence 
was, shrugging up my shoulders: 

" There is little need I should remark to you, mon- 
seigneur, that the conquest which Louis XIV., Tu- 
renne, De Conde, De Luxembourg, De Louvois, and 
two hundred thousand French, could not make of 
Holland, will never be effected by Prussia, watched 
by the Emperor, on that same country, now that it is 
supported by France." 

The Duke therefore is going, or wishes to make us 
believe he is going, to Berlin ; where deliberations are 
to be held on the propositions of England. 

So be it. So much the better. Do not be alarmed. 
The Duke is rather German than Prussian, and as 
good a statesman as he is a great warrior. He will 
prove such a proposition to be so absurd that it is 
probably no more than the personal conception of the 
audacious and artful Harris, who wishes, at any ex- 
pense, to make his fortune, and in a fit of madness to 
poniard his nation, which is more able than sage. 

Still, however, I think my journey to Brunswick is 
a lucky accident; for I confess, and with great pleas- 
ure, I found the principles of the Duke to be moderate, 
prudent, and, politically speaking, wholly French. I 
depicted the affair, or rather affairs, as a whole, under 
new points of view; and if, as I persist in believing, 
or rather as I have believed more strongly since I have 
known that he depends upon Welner for strengthen- 
ing his party, his measures have long been taken (for 
Welner has been a canon at Halberstadt, where the 
regiment of the Duke remains), if, I say, the necessity 
of accident should oblige him to take the helm, I shall 
have acquired the greatest advantages to treat with 
and make him a party in our designs. 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 173 

He has desired I would give Comte d'Esterno the 
very good advice, should Count Finckenstein die, or 
even should he not, to demand to treat on the affairs 
of Holland, and on all that relates to them, immedi- 
ately with his Majesty. This is the most certain means 
of battering Hertzberg in breach, who certainly has 
been controverted with great firmness in these affairs 
by the King, and to obtain that which we shall seem 
only to expect from the judgment and personal will 
of the Monarch. It is a proceeding which is success- 
ful with all Kings, even with the greatest. Vanswieten 
obtained from Frederick 11. himself the most import- 
ant concessions by acting thus ; and this is certainly a 
much more safe, as it is a more noble mode, than all 
the deceitful efforts w^hich flattery can employ with 
Prince Henry, whose glaring protection is more inju- 
rious to the French Embassy than it ever can be pro- 
ductive of good, under the most favorable contingen- 
cies. For I am not very unapt to believe, as the Duke 
affirms without disguise, that this partition Prince, 
were he master of affairs, would be the most danger- 
ous of the enemies of Germanic freedom. I must 
conclude, for I have not time to cipher ; the remainder 
of this inestimable conversation will be sent you here- 
after. Inform me, with all possible expedition, how 
I ought to act under the present circumstances, and 
be persuaded that, if you can find any means whatever 
of giving me secret official credit with the King, or 
even with the Duke, you will act very wisely. 



Additional Note 

If you do not imagine I am totally doting, mark me. 
I conjure you to read, and cause this to be read, with 
the utmost attention; and not to suffer me to wait a 



174 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

single moment for an answer, even though it should 
be absolutely necessary, for this purpose, to borrow 
some few hours from the levity of the country, or to 
be consistent for a whole day together. 



LETTER XXXVIII 

Berlin, October 21st, 1786. 
I ARRIVED at half -past five in the morning. The King 
was to exercise his cavalry at six. I immediately 
mounted my horse, that I might discover the state of 
his health, observe what aspect he wore, and if possi- 
ble to find some person to whom I might address my- 
self. His health is good, his brow cloudy; the troops 
were obliged to Avait a considerable time, and after 
two charges he very abruptly and very ridiculously 
retired. Nothing sufficiently new or important has 
come to my knowledge to prevent my employing the 
few remaining moments before the departure of the 
courier, and which are greatly abridged by your eight 
pages of ciphers, in resuming the consequences which 
I have drawn from the very interesting conversation, 
an account of which I gave you in my last dispatch. 
It is impossible I should send you a complete and cir- 
cumstantial narrative of all that passed, because that 
the Duke, an hour after I had left him, having sent 
me his Minister for Foreign Affairs (M. von Ardens- 
berg von Reventlau), I have too much to add. 
Four particulars appeared to me evident : 
I. That, during the confidential conference with 
the Duke, a great complication of sensation, emotion, 
and design was mingled. He wishes we should aid 
him in becoming Prime Minister of Prussia, but that 
we should act with caution. He is not convinced that 
we desire to see him in that post (I did everything in 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 175 

my power to persuade him of it), yet perfectly satis- 
fied that any interference in the affairs of Holland 
would be a stupid error, he is anxious that Prussia 
should act with propriety, and that, in this affair at 
least, we should acquire influence. He, therefore, 
while he informed me, endeavored to discover if I 
already had any information, and whether we were 
determined in the pursuit of our projects. To the 
same purport were the after commentaries of Ar- 
densberg, his deceptive confidences, and Gazette se- 
crets, the recall, not only of M. de Coetloury, but also 
of M. de Veyrac, our desertion of the patriotic party, 
etc., etc., to all which particulars I replied with a smile. 

2. That the great inquietude of the Duke arises 
from not knowing whether we are or are not Aus- 
trians, or whether we are merely so undecided on the 
subject that the errors, or the cold distance, of the Cab- 
inet of Berlin will be sufficient to induce us, at the 
hazard of all that can happen, to second the Emperor 
in his designs against Germany. In my opinion, were 
the Duke freed from his apprehensions on this very 
capital article, he would be French, for he is strongly 
German, and the English can only set Germany in 
flames; we alone have the power of maintaining it in 
peace. Should his connections with England appear 
to be strengthened, it is but, as I think, because he 
distrusts the destiny of Prussia, for he well knows 
that his English calculations are rather specious than 
solid, and that the Prussian, though perhaps some- 
what more subaltern, are much less hazardous. 

3. He and his Minister have so often demanded, 
and redemanded, on what basis I imagined the pacifi- 
cation of Holland might be established, that I have 
supposed the Duke probably thinks, should we exclude 
the Prince of Prussia from the Nassau alliance, there 
might be a necessity of choosing his daughter, the 



176 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

Princess Caroline of Brunswick as a consort for the 
Prussian heir. The supposition is founded on cir- 
cumstances so fugitive that it is impossible to give 
them written evidence, or perhaps probable, especially 
because, not having received any instructions on such 
a subject, I have not dared to make any advances. I 
therefore only give it for what it is worth. The be- 
ing but little informed of the affairs of Holland has, 
in every respect, been highly injurious to me on this 
occasion. Might I have spoken more freely I might 
even have drawn the well dry. The only positive pro- 
posal which he made on the subject was a kind of 
coalition-council of regency, without which the Stadt- 
holder could effect nothing, and in which should be 
included Gislaer, Vanberckel, etc., etc., but among 
whom also must be seated M. Van Lynden, the gov- 
ernor of the children of the Stadtholder, etc., etc. To 
my eternal objection, " How will you support those 
measures which shall be taken under the pledge of 
your aid?" he continually replied: ''Should the Stadt- 
holder counteract these arrangements, we will aban- 
don him." " But how far? " I replied. " And, if but 
amicably, how will he be injured, should he be thus 
abandoned?" In a word, I continued with a kind 
of mysterious obstinacy, to maintain that the Stadt- 
holder would never be brought to reason, unless it 
should be declared to him that the King of Prussia 
would forsake his party, though his consort might be 
secretly informed such was not the real intent. 

4. It appeared to me that the Duke was ruminating 
on some grand project for the reconstruction of the 
Germanic edifice, for this able Prince perceives the 
antique, ruinous building must be propped in order to 
be preserved, and even in many parts repaired. The 
sole wish which he clearly testified was the separation 
of the Electorate of Hanover from the English Mon- 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 177 

archy, and the secularization of certain provinces, 
which might one day form an equivalent for Saxony. 
He supposes the first point might be gained, and even 
without any great difficulty, should our politics become 
Anglicized, and that the second might be accomplished, 
though contrary to the confederation of the Princes, 
because, at the death of the Elector of Mayence, there 
will be an opportunity of retouching the league, as well 
as a natural and proper occasion of coming to an ex- 
planation with the ecclesiastical Princes, who, more 
interested than any others in the liberties of Germany, 
are always the first to tergiversate, etc., etc. Hence, 
we at least may learn that, however attached he may 
appear to be to the confederation, means may be found 
of inducing him to listen to reason concerning modi- 
fications. 

The instructions which are necessary for me, at 
present, are: 

1. Whether we ought, on this occasion, to bring him 
on the stage, which would be the real means of driv- 
ing him from it ; and I certainly do not think the lat- 
ter to be our interest, for he is more prudent, more 
able, and less susceptible of prejudice and passion, than 
any other who can be made Minister. 

2. Whether his party ought to be encouraged and 
strengthened, which will be to act directly contrary 
to the party of Prince Henry; for the plan of the 
Duke is exclusive; and, to confess the truth, he ap- 
pears tacitly so convinced that the Prince can effect 
nothing, that he has greatly fortified my own opinion 
on this subject. 

3. What is the degree of confidence I ought to place 
in him? For it is impossible to obtain the confidence 
of, without placing confidence in, such a man; and in 
my apprehension he had better be told than suffered 
to divine. 



178 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

Count Finckenstein is recovering. 

The King arrived on the eighteenth, at eight in the 
morning, after having left Breslau, on the seventeenth, 
at seven in the morning. This was incredible dili- 
gence; no person could keep pace with him. He w^ent 
on the same day to visit the Queen Dowager, and thus 
gave occasion to attribute the rapidity and danger of 
the journey to Mademoiselle Voss. She is said to be 
pregnant ; but, in the first place, this cannot be known, 
and, in the second, I do not believe the haste would 
have been so great, had it been truth. According to 
report, she has demanded two hundred thousand 
crowns. Should this be so, the circle of her career will 
not be very ample. 

The King made a multitude of nobles in Silesia, as 
elsewhere. But, wathout loading my letter, the Ga- 
zettes will tell you enough of their names. He is to 
remain a week at Potsdam, which is to be dedicated 
to his military labors. Great changes in the army 
are spoken of, such as will be favorable to the sub- 
alterns, and the reverse to the captains. 

The Dantzickers, who, according to appearances, 
supposed Kings were hobgoblins, were so enraptured 
to meet with one w^ho did not eat their children that, 
in the excess of their enthusiasm, they were willing 
to put themselves without restraint under the Prussian 
Government. The Magistrates eluded the folly of the 
populace as well as they could, under the pretence that 
Dantzic was dependent on Poland; but so great and 
so violent was the tumult, that Prussian and Polish 
couriers wxre sent off. This event will no doubt rouse 
the Emperor. and Russia; a favorable circumstance to 
our affairs in Holland. 

Count Hertzberg, who has indulged himself in very 
headlong acts in Silesia, and particularly in his dis- 
course on the day of homage, in w^hich he really braved 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 179 

the Emperor in a very indecent manner, as if it was 
not in his nature to accommodate himself to a peace- 
able order of affairs; Hertzberg, I say, has had the 
influence to retard the nomination of Alvensleben for 
the French Embassy, which had been announced by 
the King at supper. How might I have expected to 
be thus deceived, since, when I sent you the intelH- 
gence, I supposed it to be an affair so pubhc that I 
did not even write it in a cipher ? 



LETTER XXXIX 

October 24th, 1786. 
I SHALL begin my dispatch with an anecdote, the truth 
of which is undoubted, and which appears to me the 
most decisive of all I have learned concerning the new 
reign. Recollect that, in Number XVIII. , August 
29th, I wrote : 

'' The King apparently intends to renounce all his 
old habits. This is a proud undertaking. He retires 
before ten in the evening, and rises at four. Should 
he persevere, he will afford a singular example of 
habits of thirty years being vanquished. This will be 
an indubitable proof of a grand character, and show 
how we have all been mistaken." 

When I spoke thus, I, like the rest of the world 
judged by appearances. The truth is that at half 
after nine the King disappeared, and was supposed to 
be gone to rest; whereas, in the most retired apart- 
ments of the palace, like another Sardanapalus, he 
held his orgies till night was far advanced. Hence it is 
easy to understand why hours of business were obliged 
to be inverted. Health would not allow him to be 
equally active upon the stage and behind the scenes. 



i8o MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

Prince Henry regards himself as kept at a distance 
as well from system as from inclination. He is, or 
believes himself to be, persuaded that the innumerable 
follies which will result from his absence, for in his 
opinion the country without his aid is undone, will 
occasion recourse to be had to his experience and his 
abilities, and he then intends to refuse that tardy suc- 
cor which his genius will be implored to yield. Even 
granting him the truth of all these vain dreams, he 
does not recollect that the expression of an undone 
country is only true relative to a certain lapse of time 
and that therefore in all probability, he will be dead 
before the want of his assistance will be perceived. 
He comes to reside four months at Berlin, ther?, ac- 
cording to him, to suffer martyrdom, that it m2^y not 
be supposed he has deserted the public cause. His 
places of asylum are afterward to be Rheinsberg, the 
Lake of Geneva, and France; but such he will easily 
find everywhere. Consolation will not be wanting to 
him, since consolation can be found at playing at 
blind man's buff, or hot cockles, with actresses more 
insipid than the very worst of our provincial com- 
panies can afford. 

The distribution of influence continues the same. 
Hertzberg violently seizes on the King, who probably 
has more esteem for Count Finckenstein ; but whom, 
not being so eternally hunted by him, he leaves in a 
subaltern degree of credit, which from apparent may 
become real, the easy temper of the master considered. 
The remaining Ministers are held to be so many ciphers. 

Welner daily increases his jurisdiction, and Bishops- 
werder his influence, but he does not appear to exercise 
this influence either as a man of ostentation or a dupe. 
He neither asks for titles, ribbons, nor places. At 
most he will but make Ministers ; he will never be one. 
Three hundred thousand livres for each of his daugh- 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG i8i 

ters, an excellent fief for himself, with military rank 
(he is said to be a good officer), these are what he 
wishes, and these he most probably will obtain. In 
the meantime no person has anything ; neither he nor 
Welner nor Goertz, who lives by borrowing. 

Bowlet? — The influence of a mason engineer, and 
no other; for of no other is he capable. 

Goltz the Tartar? — Artful, sly, dexterous; perhaps 
ambitious, but very selfish and covetous. Money is 
his ruling passion, and money he will have. He will 
probably have the greatest influence over military af- 
fairs, unless the Duke of Brunswick should take them 
to himself. The memorials relative to fortification are 
transmitted to him. 

Colonel Wartensleben is evidently kept at a distance, 
and probably because of his family connections with 
Prince Henry; who, to all his other disadvantages, 
adds that of having every person who is about the 
King for his enemy. 

Subalterns ? — Their kingdom is not come. It should 
seem that having long, while Prince of Prussia, been 
deceived by them, the King knows and recollects this ; 
although from compassion he wishes not to notice it, 
at least for a time. 

The master ? — What is he ? I persist in believing it 
would be rash, at present, to pronounce, though one 
might be strongly tempted to reply King Log. No 
understanding, no fortitude, no consistency, no in- 
dustry; in his pleasures the Hog of Epicurus and the 
hero only of pride; which, perhaps, we should rather 
denominate confined and vulgar vanity. Such hitherto 
have the symptoms been. And under what circum- 
stances, in what an age, and at what a post? I am 
obliged to summon all my reason to divine, and to 
forget it all again to hope. The thing which is really 
to be feared is lest the universal contempt he must 



i82 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

soon incur should irritate him, and deprive him of 
that species of benevolence of which he shows signs. 
That weakness is very formidable which unites an 
ardent thirst after pleasures, destitute of choice or 
delicacy, with the desire of keeping them secret in a 
situation where nothing can be kept secret. 

Not that I here am writing a second part to Madame 
de Sevigne; I do not speak ill of Frederick William 
because he overlooks me, as she spoke well of Louis 
XIV., because he had lately danced a minuet with her. 

Yesterday, at the Court of the Queen, he three 
times addressed himself to me, which he never before 
did in public. "You have been at Magdeburg and 
Brunswick." "Yes, Sire." "Were you pleased with 
the manoeuvres?" "Sire, I was in admiration." 'T 
ask to be informed of the truth, and not to be compli- 
mented." "In my opinion, Sire, there was nothing 
wanting to complete the splendor of this exhibition, 
except the presence of your Majesty." "Is the Duke 
in good health ?" "Exceedingly good, Sire." "Will he 
be here soon?" "Your Majesty, I imagine, is the 
only person who knows." He smiled. 

This is a specimen. You will well imagine it was, 
personally, very indifferent to me what he should say 
to me before the whole Court, but it was not so to the 
audience ; and I note this as having appeared to make 
a part of the arranged reparation to France, which 
reparation was as follows. (From this, imagine the 
w^it of the Court of Berlin; for I am convinced there 
was a real desire of giving satisfaction to Comte 
d'Esterno.) 

First, it was determined the Queen should have a 
Lotto, and not a private party, in order that the com- 
pany at her table might be the more numerous. After 
all the Princesses, Prince Henry, Prince Frederick of 
Brunswick, and the Prince of Holsteinbeck, had been 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 183 

invited, and taken their places, Mademoiselle Bishops- 
werder, the maid of honor, who regulated the party, 
named Comte d'Esterno. The Queen then, perceiving 
Lord Dalrymple, beckoned him, and at the same mo- 
ment desired him to sit down. The Ambassadors of 
France and England w^ere the only foreign ministers 
that were of the party, so that Princes Reuss and Ro- 
manzow were now excluded, as they before had ap- 
peared to have been favored. It would be difficult to 
imagine anything more awkward, or more incon- 
sistent; and this increases my regret at remembering 
that Comte d'Esterno thought himself obliged to take 
offense on the first Court day of the Queen; for, after 
the absurdity of yesterday, I can see no possible hope 
of reparation which would not be slovenly daubing. 

I am certain, however, that, far from wishing to 
wound, they were desirous to heal; and, to treat the 
subject less petitely, I am persuaded it is wrong to af- 
firm the King hates the French. He hates nothing; 
he scarcely loves anything. He has been told that he 
must become wholly German, in order to pursue a new 
and glorious track, and he descends to the level of his 
nation, instead of desiring to elevate his nation 
superior to himself. His conduct is the result of the 
narrowness of his views. If he have a cordial dislike 
to anything, it is to men of wit; because he imagines 
that, in their company, it is absolutely requisite he 
should hear wit, and be himself a wit. He despairs of 
the one, and therefore hates the other. He has not 
yet learned that men of wit only are the people who can 
appear not to possess wit. He seems to have made a 
determination to treat all persons in an amicable man- 
ner, without haughtiness or threat. The Stadtholder 
always receives two very different accounts from Ber- 
lin, and does not fail to believe that which flatters his 
ruling passion. 



i84 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

A mile from this place some very secret experi- 
ments are making on the artillery, which are conhded 
to Major Tempelhoff. A small number of superior 
officers are admitted; captains are excluded. The 
ground is covered by tents, and guarded by sentinels, 
night and day. I shall endeavor to learn the particulars. 

I forgot to write you word from Brunswick, that 
the Duchess informed me the Prince of Wales w^as 
consulting the most able civilians in Europe, to learn 
whether, by marrying a Catholic, the positive laws of 
England, the laws of any other nation, or the maxims 
of the civil laws of Europe, would disinherit an heir, 
and particularly an heir apparent. There appears to 
be much imprudence in this appeal of an heir apparent 
from the opinions of Great Britain to those of the 
civilians. 

An anecdote less important, but perhaps more poign- 
ant, is that the Margrave of Baden-Baden has sent M. 
von Edelsheim here as his complimentary envoy, the 
brother of one of his ministers w^ho is called the Choi- 
seul of Carlsruhe. The following is the history of 
this complimentor, who has arrived long after all the 
others. 

At a time when the prolific virtues of the father of 
the five royal children were held in doubt, there was a 
wish to bestow a lover on a lady (the afterward di- 
vorced Queen, banished to Stettin), who, had they not 
done so, would have made bold to have bestowed one 
on herself. The care of choosing was committed to 
the brothers of the Duke of Brunswick. They de- 
scended a little too low, and in consequence an eye was 
cast on Edelsheim, who was publicly enough charged 
with this great work. He was afterward sent to Paris 
to execute another commission, of which he acquitted 
himself ill. I have been assured he was thrown into 
the Bastille. On his return he was disgraced, but 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 185 

afterward employed, and sent to various courts of 
Germany in 1778. And this is the man whom, in his 
high wisdom, the Margrave selected for his envoy to 
the King of Prussia. The Monarch himself, when he 
saw him, could not forbear laughing. 

Postscript. — Yesterday, at eleven in the morning, 
the King, hidden in a gray coach, went alone to Mon- 
Bijou, where he remained an hour, whence he returned 
in a great glow. What does this mean? Is this the 
triumph of the Lady Voss ? It is impossible at present 
to know. Neither has anything transpired concerning 
the letters which M. von Calenberg has brought from 
the Stadtholder. 

Muller and Landsberg, private secretaries of the 
Cabinet, demanded their dismission with considerable 
chagrin, their services not being apparently necessary, 
said they, since they were not thought worthy of being 
instructed concerning the answers they had to return, 
and since the letters were sent ready composed to the 
King. They remain in their places, and the accommo- 
dation was effected by Bishopswerder. It appears that 
he is in league with Welner against Hertzberg, which 
he does not take any great precautions to conceal. The 
King will not go to Potsdam to make the military ar- 
rangements before Friday, in order, as it is supposed, 
to give the Duke time to arrive. The attempting to 
account for all the caprices of kings is a strange kind 
of frenzy. 

LETTER XL 

October 2Sth, 1786. 
I PASSED yesterday evening with Prince Henry. The 
King had dedicated almost the whole afternoon of 
the day before to this palace, for, after having been 



i86 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

with the Prince, he visited the Princess, where he 
played, and drank tea with Mademoiselle Voss, among 
other ladies of honor. This kind of reconciliation with 
the Prince (which, however, is nothing more than a 
simple act of courtesy, as is evident from the succeed- 
ing visit to the Princess, whom the Prince regards as 
his most cruel enemy), this reconciliation (which is 
nearly an accurate phrase, for the coolness between 
them was very great) appears to be the political work 
of Welner, who wishes, in his struggle against Hertz- 
berg, if not the support, at least the neutrality of the 
Prince; and the hatred of this feeble mortal is so blind 
in effect that, united with the hopes of his ambition, 
of which he is not easy to be cured, it was sufficient to 
induce him once more meanly to offer his services to 
the King, consequently to cast himself, if possible, to 
a greater distance. Not that he himself places any 
great dependence on this type of peace, which is the 
more suspicious because it happened on the eve of a 
succeeding fortnight's absence, after which it will not 
be difficult to find pretenses not to meet again for some 
time longer, should the King think proper. But the 
Prince imagines his enemy dead, and he enjoys him- 
self, and chuckles like a child, without recollecting that 
this is the very way to promote his resurrection. 

In reality, Count Hertzberg appears to have cast his 
own die. He had a tolerable run of ill luck in Silesia, 
— abrupt disputes, contradictions, the chagrin of see- 
ing the name of the brother of his former mistress 
struck off from the list of Counts ; he ought, even while 
in Prussia, to have perceived that his sounding 
speeches gave no pleasure. On the day of receiving 
homage, he read over the names of the Counts, and 
when he came to his own stopped, that the King, 
seated on his throne, might pronounce it himself, and 
the Monarch was malicious enough to remain silent, 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 187 

so that the inauguration of Count Hertzberg did 
not take place till the day after, and in the ante- 
chamber. 

But what probably has occasioned his downfall, if 
fallen he has, was his haughty behavior to Welner, 
the least forgetful of men, and who, amid his ambi- 
tious projects, needed no such cause of rancor to oc- 
casion him to hate and injure the Minister. Hertzberg 
has made him wait for hours in his antechamber, has 
received and kept him standing, spoken to him a very 
short time, and dismissed him with airs which are only 
proper to give offense. Welner vowed his destruction, 
and he is seconded by Bishopswerder. 

Such at least are probabilities, according to every 
acceptation of the word influence; and I should have 
divined them to-day from the very politeness of Hertz- 
berg. He gave a grand dinner to foreigners, among 
whom, for once, Comte d'Esterno and myself were 
invited. His attention seemed all directed to us. Such 
proceedings are awkward and mean. This mixture of 
stiffness and twining is a strange singularity by which 
half-formed characters ruin themselves. Machiavel 
rightly affirms that ''all the evil in the world originates 
in not being sufficiently good, or sufficiently wicked." 
Whether my conjectures are or are not true, still it is 
certain Count Hertzberg has been very dryly and posi- 
tively forbidden all interference, direct or indirect, in 
the affairs of Holland, from which country Callenberg 
does not appear to have brought any remarkable intel- 
ligence. He is really come to obtain admission into 
the Prussian service, and his letters were only recom- 
mendatory. 

It is not the influence of Hertzberg that prevents 
the recall of Thulemeyer, but that of Count Fincken- 
stein. The mother of the envoy has had a lasting and 
tender friendship for the Count; and indeed it was 



i88 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

her husband who procured the Count a place in the 
Ministry. In fact it appears to me to be a matter of 
Httle moment, for the present, whether Thulemeyer 
should or should not be recalled. His embassy ended 
on the arrival of Goertz, nor do I believe he sends any 
dispatches. 

The destiny of Launay was decided the day before 
yesterday by a very severe letter. He is no longer 
allowed to act, and they offer him a pension of only 
two thousand crowns to retire on, with the proviso that 
he shall remain in the Prussian States. It must be 
owned his estimate is a chef-d'oeuvre of egotism and 
folly, and that he might be completely refuted; 
although the memorial of the commissioners who have 
undertaken his refutation is a pitiable performance. 
He has proved two facts, the one of which is curious, 
and the other decisive against his own administration. 
First, that, in the space of nineteen years, he has 
brought into the King's coffers a surplus of 42,689,000 
crowns of the empire, exclusive of the fixed revenue, 
which annually amounted to five millions of crowns. 
What dreadful oppression ! The second, that the col- 
lecting of the customs is an annual expense of more 
than 1,400,000 crowns, which, on a first view of the 
business to be transacted, and of local circumstances, 
might at least be reduced two-thirds. But not one 
man is at this moment employed who appears to under- 
stand the elements of his profession. It is a fact that 
they have not yet been able to make any general state- 
ment of debtor and creditor, nor to class any single 
branch of the revenue; so that there is not one 
object, not even the King's dinner, which is yet regu- 
lated. 

This is a chaos, but It is a chaos at rest. Finance, 
military and civil, are each alike in a state of stagna- 
tion ; and such a state in general would indeed be better 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 189 

than the rage of governing too much, in a country 
with a fixed constitution, in which individual prudence 
might preponderate over public folly. But men are 
here so accustomed to see their King active or rather 
exclusively active; they are so little in the habit of 
doing what he leaves undone, though, having once 
issued his orders, they very well understand the art of 
deceiving him; they even think so little of laying any 
proposals before him, that the stagnation is a real clog 
on the machine. But how injurious may this clog 
become in a kingdom which rests on so brittle a basis, 
though inhabited, indeed, by a people so tardy, so 
heavy, so unimpassioned, that it is scarcely possible a 
sudden shock should happen? The vessel, however, 
must continue to sink, more or less sensibly, if some 
pilot does not come on board, although she will not 
suddenly founder. 

Wait we must; it would be an act of temerity to 
attempt to look into this darkness visible. I repeat, 
we must wait before we can know whether the King 
will, or will not, have the courage to take a Prime 
Minister. Such an appointment would be equal to a 
revolution; and, well or ill, would change the whole 
face of affairs. 

The Duke of Brunswick is the person who ought to 
be narrowly watched, if we wish to foretell the fate of 
this Government; although he should not be the per- 
son appointed, and should there be any appearance of 
a shipwreck. This Prince is only fifty, and is indis- 
putably ambitious. Should he ever resolve on hazard- 
ous and daring designs, and should he no longer de- 
pend on Prussia, he would shake all the German 
combinations as the north wind shakes the reed. His 
manners and his prudence are incompatible with the 
English party. Neither can England act on the Con- 
tinent, except accidentally. But I can imagine circum- 



190 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

stances under which I think him capable of going over 
to the Emperor, who would receive him wnth open 
arms. And what might not the Duke of Brunswick 
perform at the head of the Austrian army ? How great 
would be the danger of Germany! How vast a 
prospect for him whose passions might be unbridled, 
should he be obliged to act a desperate part; for he 
almost hates his sons, unless it be his youngest, who 
promises not to be so stupid as the others. 

The best manner of securing him has been missed, 
which would have been to place him unconditionally 
at the head of the Germanic Confederation. Should 
he desert it, I greatly fear he will be its destroyer. 

Baron H is arrived, and has not been received 

by the King in a manner equal to his expectations. A 
certain musical demoniac, named Baron Bagge, is 
also at Berlin. I imagine they are all in too much 
haste. The King is in the high fervor of the German 
system, and anxious to have it known that the ship is 
to be differently trimmed. Since his accession, the 
banker of La Valmour has received orders to send in 
his account, that it may be discharged, and to stop all 
future payments to that girl w^ho had formerly so 
much power over him. It is said he is to return from 
Potsdam on the third, and I imagine it will be found 
that he goes there to the chase. The Prince of Dessau 
is to arrive there to-morrow evening, and I have no 
doubt there is to be a calling of the faithful. 



LETTER XLI 

October 30th, 1786. 
At the request of Struensee, I have sent him the fol- 
lowing information : First, on the possibility of public 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 191 

loans to France, and, secondly, on the treaty of com- 
merce, and on the manner of placing money in the 
French funds. 

There are two species of public funds in France : 
those the interest of which is fixed and certain, and 
which does not vary with circumstances; and those 
wdiich produce dividends, or a participation of gain, 
subject to vicissitudes and to rise or fall. 

The public and favored companies principally ap- 
pertain to this last class, — such as the Caisse d'Es- 
compte, the Paris waterworks, and French East India 
Company; the prices of stock in which have succes- 
sively, or all together, been agitated by every frenzy 
of stockjobbing. All true estimate of their real value 
and their effective gains has been, as it w^ere, lost, that 
men might yield to the rage of gambling in funds 
which never could be reduced to any exact valuation. 
These jobbers have been less occupied by endeavors 
to reduce the price of shares to their true value than 
artfully to affect their price, by disputes and pretended 
reasonings on the impossibility of delivering all the 
shares that had been sold. Monopoly has succeeded 
to monopoly, association to association ; some to raise, 
others to lower the price ; to effect which every imagi- 
nary species of deceit, cabal, and cunning has been 
practiced; and, though this gambling mania has not 
continued more than two years, many people have 
already been ruined, and many others dishonored, by 
taking shelter under the laws to elude their engage- 
ments. 

The other species of public funds, and the only one 
perhaps which merits the name, consists in contracts, 
and royal effects, properly so called. The contracts 
yield an interest of from five and a half to six per 
cent at the utmost. One only fund, the stock of which 
is paid at sight, is more productive. This is the loan 



192 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

of one hundred and twenty-five millions. Shares are 
sold, at present, at an advance of but two per cent, 
although there are nine months' interest due, and the 
real interest amounts to nearly seven per cent. The 
stock cannot remain long at this price, and, whether 
the purchasers wish to be permanent stockholders, or 
only to speculate for some months, this loan merits a 
preference to any other. Its advantages annually in- 
crease, since, while receiving uniform interest of five 
per cent, a part of the capital is to be periodically re- 
paid. In January, 1787 and 1788, these reimburse- 
ments are to be made at the rate of fifteen per cent on 
the capital advanced. They are afterward to proceed 
to pay off twenty per cent, and at intervals of three 
years to twenty-five, thirty-five, forty, forty-five, fifty 
per cent, till, in the last year, the whole will be repaid, 
independent of the interest of five per cent to, and in- 
cluding, the years of reimbursement, the last year of 
payment only excepted. The stockholders may either 
have bills payable at sight, according to the original 
plan, or, if they please, may receive contracts in their 
stead, without any change taking place in the order 
of reimbursement. 

Those who buy in with the design of remaining 
stockholders, must prefer contracts, because these are 
liable neither to be stolen, burned, nor destroyed. 
Those who purchase stock on speculation, intending to 
sell out, should rather receive bills, because the transfer 
would then be subject to none of the delays of 
office. 

We ought to regard the public loans of France as at 
an end, all the debts of the war being paid, so that if 
any loans henceforth should take place, they can prob- 
ably be only for small sums to pay off the annual reim- 
bursements with which the finances will, for five or 
six years to come, be burdened. But these loans can 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 193 

only offer trifling advantages to the moneyed men. 
The rate of interest must have a natural tendency to 
fall, because of the general prosperity of the kingdom, 
and, consequently, the loan of one hundred and twenty- 
five millions presents the probability of rising in price, 
which rise is each day liable to take place, and which 
variation cannot be profited by, unless stock is im- 
mediately purchased. This probability might even be 
called a certainty, when, on the one part, we recollect 
the nature of the loan, which is the most wise, solid, 
and advantageous to the moneyed men, and in every 
respect the best that has ever been imagined; and, on 
the other, the concurrence of circumstances, which, all 
uniting, lead us to presume that the credit of France, 
and the public confidence in its royal effects, must daily 
increase. 



On the Commercial Treaty 

It appears that the Treaty of Commerce is highly 
acceptable to both parties. The English perceive in it 
a vast market for their woolen cloths, wrought cottons, 
and hardware ; we depend on the great exportation of 
our wines, linens, and cambrics, and probably both 
nations are right, but under certain modifications, the 
value of which can only be taught by time. 

The Treaty, in general, seems to have held a prin- 
ciple as sacred which has too often been misunder- 
stood, which is, that moderate duties are the sole 
means of preserving the revenue, and preventing illicit 
trade. Thus the English merchandise is rated at from 
ten to twelve per cent. Should the advantage for some 
years appear to be wholly on the side of the English, 
still it is evident the French trade will gain ground, 
since nothing can prevent our manufacturers gradually 



194 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

imitating the products of English industry, whereas, 
Nature having refused soil and climate to England, 
our wines cannot be made there, and, in this respect, 
the English must always depend on us. 

True it is that the wines of Portugal will continue 
to be drunk in England in great quantities, but the 
rising generation will prefer the wines of France. 
Of this, Ireland affords a proof, in which ten times 
the quantities of French wines are drunk in com- 
parison with the wines of Portugal. The French 
wines, henceforth, are only to pay duties equivalent to 
those which the wines of Portugal at present pay in 
England, that is to say, forty pounds sterling per ton, 
or about one shilling per bottle. Our wines of Medoc 
may there be sold cheap, and will be preferred to the 
wines of Portugal. The English, it is true, are al- 
low^ed to lower the present duties on the wines of 
Portugal, but they will fear to diminish them too 
sensibly, lest they should injure the revenue arising 
from their beer, which is the most essential of their 
excise duties, and annually produces more than i,8oo,- 
ooo pounds sterling. 

The Treaty, in fact, w^ll incontestably be advantage- 
ous to both countries. It will procure an increase of en- 
joyment to the people, and of revenue to their respect- 
ive monarchs. Its tendency is to render the English 
and French more friendly, and in general it is founded 
on those liberal principles which are worthy two such 
great nations, and of which France ought to be first 
to give an example since, of all countries on earth, it 
would, from its natural advantages, be the greatest 
gainer, should such principles be universally established 
in the commercial world. 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 195 

LETTER XLII 

October 31st, 1786. 

They have also affirmed (that is, Prince Ferdinand 
has) that it was I who refuted the estimate of Launay. 
From that moment I have daily left my card at the 
house of Launay, and have declared that to torment 
people seemed to me to be a thing so unnecessary that, 
exclusive of the cowardice of wantonly striking a man 
under misfortunes, none but a fool could have invented 
so silly and malicious a tale. 

On the reply of the refutation of his estimate, Lau- 
nay received so severe a letter that he immediately de- 
manded permission to retire. The King answered this 
should be granted him, when the commission should 
have no more need of his assistance. 

It is loudly rumored here, after having been long 
whispered, that a treaty is concerting between Russia, 
Austria, and Prussia; the pretext for which is the 
pacification of Holland. I own that at present I do 
not see the least probability of truth in the report. 
Neither the King, nor any one of his Ministers, ap- 
pears to me to have an understanding sufficiently en- 
larged for such a project. Not but we most assuredly 
ought to pay very serious attention to the rumor. 

As I was finishing my phrase, I received information 
that Dr. Roggerson, the favorite physician of the 
Czarina, the same whom she sent to Vienna, and of 
whom I spoke to you in my former dispatches, is just 
arrived. Now or never is the time for an eye war; 
but this kind of tilting can be performed only by am- 
bassadors; they alone possess the means, were we to 
exclude every other except the all-puissance of supper 
parties, which are the very sieves of secrets. 

7— Memoirs Vol. 5 



196 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

Roggerson returns from England by way of Am- 
sterdam, and Berlin is directly in his road. Still, I 
repeat, we ought, watchfully to observe Vienna and 
Petersburg, — convinced as I am at present that the 
Emperor is only spreading nets for this country. I 
must further add that I imagine I very clearly perceive 
the Gallomania of Prince Henry is on the decline. 
But this to him w^ill be of no advantage, for it is to 
oppose the Prince that they are Anti-Gallican here. 
It is not to oppose the French that he is opposed. 
Prince Henry is turbulent, false, and perfidious. He 
formerly was successful at Petersburg. He may flat- 
ter himself that, should there be any need of that 
Court, he may be employed; and never will there be 
a better resemblance of the morality of the late 
Erostratus. 

The Duke of Brunswick arrived on Saturday at 
Potsdam. That is a kind of secret at Berlin. Nothing 
had been done on Sunday, except listening to music 
and looking at reviews; but two couriers were cer- 
tainly sent off, from the Sunday to the Tuesday. I 
know nothing more. I am in want of pecuniary and 
other aid. The domestic disorder is a thing so incon- 
venient, some of the favorites are so interested to put 
an end to it, or to certain parts of it, since they have 
not a sixpence, and it is carried to such excess in the 
palace, that I cannot help supposing there is some 
grand object which employs the whole attention of 
the King, and the few moments he can prevail on 
himself to dedicate to business. 

There has been a quarrel in the household, in which 
the master has committed some violence on himself. 
One of his favorite ushers, Rumpel, a man naturally 
very insolent, insomuch that at a review he once struck 
a gentleman without any serious notice being taken of 
the affair, has had a very passionate brawl with Lin- 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 197 

denau, the new first usher, who is a Saxon, and the 
friend of Bishopswerder, who procured him the place. 
Lindenau put the insolent favorite under arrest, and 
gave an account of his proceeding to the King. The 
Monarch started with astonishment; but, after a mo- 
mentary silence, he not only approved of the act of 
Lindenau, but confirmed the arrest in a very cool man- 
ner, and for an indefinite term. By this he has given 
some energy to the head servants, and somewhat tem- 
pered the insolence of the subalterns. 

Discord, on the other hand, reigns among the favor- 
ites. Goltz and Bishopswerder had a very serious dis- 
pute in Silesia. The King, having made some new 
appointments, in favor of I know not whom, Goltz 
kept so cool a silence that the King insisted on know- 
ing the reason of this tacit disapprobation. Goltz re- 
plied : " Your Majesty is overflowing the land with 
Saxons, as if you had not a subject of your own." 
Bishopswerder came in, a few moments afterward, 
and proposed another Saxon, on which the King very 
abruptly exclaimed, " Zounds ! you never propose any- 
body but Saxons." Probably, in the explanation which 
succeeded this pettishness, the King told what Goltz 
had said. Certain it is that Bishopswerder and Goltz 
have been very warm. The wall is whitewashed over, 
but we may with good reason conclude that Goltz, the 
Tartar, and Bishopswerder, the debonair, neither do, 
nor ever will, cordially esteem each other. It was the 
latter who brought the insignificant Duke of Holstein- 
beck hither, and who is endeavoring to advance him 
to the command of the guards, that he may deprive 
the former favorite, Wartensleben, of the place. 

To descend a step lower, it appears that Chauvier 
is regaining credit. He imagined, at the beginning 
of the reign, that the surliness of the secretary would 
promote his interest. It did the reverse. Apparently 



198 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

he has altered his route, and is in the pandar depart- 
ment, submits to subaltern complaisance, and even to 
act the spy, in which he finds his account. 

The King returns on Wednesday, as it is said, to 
depart again on Thursday. I cannot understand what 
this means, unless it should be to keep Prince Henry 
at a distance, without openly quarreling. The Prince 
will remain ignorant of affairs by not knowing where 
to find the King. The Minister, Blumenthal, has 
rather resolutely demanded his dismission, complain- 
ing that his Majesty, having bedizened some of his 
servants, who were not of so long standing as him- 
self, with ribbons, had not bestowed on him that mark 
of honor. His retreat, which is not granted, is a mat- 
ter of little moment; though it is afBrmed the King 
could not be better pleased, for he would then have a 
place to bestow. I have heard, and from a good quar- 
ter, that this place, or rather a place of principal trust, 
will very soon be given to a remarkable man to the 
dissatisfaction of everybody. I can neither divine 
who this man is, nor believe the King has the fortitude 
to dissatisfy everybody. The credit of Hertzberg, 
if not ruined, is still on the decline. It is certain that 
he has not dined with the King since the return from 
Silesia. 

Welner is at Potsdam. 

Do not suffer your Ambassador to persuade you that 
there is nothing to apprehend from Austria ; I am con- 
vinced the King is undetermined, that the Emperor is 
sounding him, and that there is something in agitation 
with which we are unacquainted. For my own part, 
nothing would appear less extraordinary to me. I 
own I am surprised at all the intelligence I obtain, 
however little that may be. But nothing can here be 
kept secret from a French Ambassador, who is in 
want of neither money nor industry. 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 199 

I have just been told that General Rodig has sent a 
challenge to Count Boertz. I have not learned what 
was the cause of quarrel, and the truth of the news 
scarcely appears to be probable; yet it comes from a 
person who should know, though he is a young man. 



LETTER XLIII 

November 4th, 1786. 
A NEW letter, excessively rigorous, and tolerably in- 
coherent, has suspended Launay in the exercise of all 
his functions. Yet I scarcely can believe it is in- 
tended to sully the beginning of a reign by useless 
cruelty. The victim is immolated to the nation the 
moment the man is no longer in place. The remainder 
would only be the explosion of gratuitous hatred, 
since the unfortunate Launay no longer can give um- 
brage to anyone. Verder is placed at the head of the 
customs. We shall see what the new established order 
will produce; or rather, w^hether they will know how 
to establish any new order. In the meantime the dis- 
charge of forty Frenchmen is determined on, in petto. 
But I cannot perceive that these kind of Sicilian ves- 
pers are likely even to gain the public favor. The 
theater here is not sufficiently vast to conceal from the 
pit what is passing behind the scenes. There is 
scarcely any illusion possible, except that of actually 
doing good. I shall endeavor to save Launay, by 
causing Prince Henry to say, who has at least pre- 
served the privilege of uttering all he pleases, that 
hitherto the King has really acted in this business as 
the man of the nation ; but that, should he go further, 
he will become the man of the persecutors of Launay; 
that there are public murmurs which affirm he has 
espoused their hatred, etc. Certain it is that the repe- 



200 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

tition of the self-important /, in Launay's estimate, 
has put the King out of humor, and even in a passion. 

His Majesty arrived yesterday, and returned this 
morning. This seems to be an episode in the romance 
of Voss which approaches the denouement, and which 
is suspended to obtain the three following articles : 
(i) two hundred thousand crowns for her portion. 
The King refuses (or will only count out a thousand 
crowns per month, so that the payment will not be 
completed in less than sixteen years and eight months, 
w^hich will render the sum a little problematic) ; (2) 
a left-handed marriage (to this he consents, but the 
lady finds that a very equivocal kind of circumstance), 
or (3) to marry her to a man who shall depart on the 
bridal day as Ambassador to Sweden (there is no 
certainty of finding a man sufficiently base, in that 
class w^hich should rank him among ambassadors). 
Mademoiselle avows that, without being amorous, she 
is rendered exceedingly sensible by a three years' siege. 
But what shall become of her, of her uncle, her fam- 
ily? What place shall she hold in the public opinion, 
in city, and Court? Such is the purport of the nego- 
tiation conducted by Bishopswerder. I do not sup- 
pose him young enough to be the King's substitute; 
so that the speculation does not appear to be very 
certain. 

As to the King, there is, indeed, some little curiosity, 
a degree of obstinacy, and somewhat of vanity, but 
still greater want of a companion with whom he may 
be as much of a gossip, may loll, and dress as slovenly 
as he pleases. The circumstance that shackles the 
negotiation is that Rietz and her tribe must evacuate 
the country, and the King is exceedingly attached to 
her son. It is necessary, however, to add to all this 
that Mademoiselle Voss relates herself all the tales 
repeated in public, and even of the most secret court- 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 201 

iers, which concern herself; and this may render the 
probabiHty of these conjectures suspicious. 

The King, it is said, returns to Potsdam till the 8th. 
He is not there so entirely occupied by business or 
secret pleasure as to exclude all company. M. Arnim 
is one of his society; a kind of unfinished man of the 
world, who has acquired many friends by the affabil- 
ity and amenity of his manners and his great fortune, 
and whose understanding, sufficiently upright and lit- 
tle brilliant, being timid and wavering, neither gives 
umbrage to the King nor inspires him with fears. In 
all despotic countries, one grand means of good for- 
tune is mediocrity of talents. If it be generally true 
that no positive assertions ought to be made in the 
presence of princes, and that hesitation and delibera- 
tion always please them, I think it peculiarly so applied 
to Frederick William II. 

It is affirmed the assignments are made out, and that 
this has been the labor of Welner alone. For this rea- 
son all the ministers, Schulemburg excepted (perhaps 
because of his connections with Count Finckenstein, 
whom the inauguration of Mademoiselle Voss must 
render powerful), are restless and terrified. Some of 
them have not yet given in the least account to the 
King. Estimate by this the state of a country in which 
everything depends on the industry of the King. Be 
not astonished that so little mention is made of busi- 
ness, for no business is transacted ; the affair of Lau- 
nay is the only one which is pursued with activity and 
hatred; everything else slumbers. 

A person who comes from Russia assures me that 
the Empress has long omitted going any more to the 
Senate, and that she habitually intoxicates herself with 
Champagne and Hungary wine (this is contradictory 
to every account I have hitherto received) ; that Po- 
temkin elevates his ambition to the grandest projects, 



202 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

and that it is openly affirmed he will either be made 
Emperor or be beheaded, at the accession of the Grand 
Duke. This artful and decisive man, possessed of 
uncommon fortitude, has not a single friend; and yet 
the number of his creatures and creditors who with 
him would lose their all, is so great in every class of 
the people, that his party is extremely formidable. 
He amasses immense treasures, in a country where 
everything is venal. Accustomed never to pay his 
debts, and disposing of everything in Russia, he does 
not find any difficulty in accumulating enormous sums. 
He has an apartment, the key of which he keeps him- 
self, partitioned out from top to bottom, and divided 
into a great number of boxes, filled with bank bills of 
Russia, Denmark, and particularly of Holland and 
England. A person in his employment proposed to 
him the purchase of a library, appertaining to a great 
lord that had lately died. Potemkin took him into 
his bank-bill apartment, where the only answer he 
made was asking whether he imagined this library 
was of equal value with the one proposed. Possessed 
of such pecuniary aid, he has no need oi any other to 
perform whatever he shall dare to undertake at Peters- 
burg. 

I must here mention that Doctor Roggerson, who 
yesterday departed on his return to Petersburg, affirms 
that no person in Europe leads a more sober or regular 
life than Catherine II. He, however, has been eight 
months absent. 

I have collected some particulars that are rather 
curious, relative to the usurpation made on the ducal 
rights of postage in Courland, of which I have spoken 
to you in my former dispatches. This is an object of 
some importance, in so small a State, independent of 
the inquisition that thence results, and of the infraction 
of the rights of nations. This branch of revenue does 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 203 

not annually amount to less than a hundred and sixty 
thousand livres. But the following is a singular cir- 
cumstance, which characterizes Russian politics. 

Not to commit an act of violence too openly, and to 
avoid marching troops, which always draws the atten- 
tion of neighboring Powders, the Court of Russia pro- 
posed, or rather demanded, an amicable conference 
between the deputies of Courland and commissaries, 
named to that effect; and appointed their sittings to 
be at Riga, a Russian fortress on the frontiers of 
Courland, under the presidency of the Governor of 
that town. Four deputies from Courland repaired 
thither at the time appointed ; and the Governor signi- 
fied to them that he had received orders from his Sov- 
ereign to arrest them if they did not sign an act, which 
he produced ready drawn up, by which the ducal rights 
of the postage of Courland were transferred to Rus- 
sia. The deputies, should they refuse, having no other 
prospect before their eyes but Siberia, purely and 
simply affixed their signatures : after this, several 
stipulations, which alienated lesser rights and even 
portions of the borders of Courland, were in like 
manner prese»ted and sanctioned. One of the most 
artful, and the most important, of these stipulations 
is that which relates to reclaiming the subjects of 
Russia, who may be found in Courland, and in which 
the Cabinet of Petersburg have included the very de- 
scendants of those who may have been naturalized for 
ages. It is very evident that this concession leads to 
unlimited abuse, and innumerable disputes, which will 
be more injurious to Courland than the most burden- 
some tax could be; for nothing can prevent the Rus- 
sian superintendents from feigning, whenever they 
please, the existence of one or of several of such or 
such Russian subjects, in such or such a part of Cour- 
land, or from taking the refusal of restitution for 



204 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

granted, in order to lay the country under the contri- 
bution of an equal number of hundreds of ducats (the 
sum fixed by the stipulation for each Muscovite whom 
the Courlanders shall refuse to deliver up), v^henever 
the Russian treasury, or the Russian delegate, shall 
stand in need of, or whenever the country shall be 
enabled to pay, such sums of money. I again repeat 
that similar practices, openly in Courland, in other 
parts more secretly, similar projects I say, are carried 
on in all the countries that border upon Russia. Let 
us return to Berlin. 

Trumpel, the groom whom I mentioned to you in 
my last, is discharged. This exertion has excited much 
astonishment. The King certainly rouses himself as 
much as he can, that he may not be governed, and this 
is the most distinct act of self-will which has hitherto 
been discernible in the Monarch. 

On Thursday evening he supped at the confidential 
table, at which there are no servants, but the guests 
are supplied by tours. The supper was more than gay. 
Ten persons were present. When it was over, the 
ladies of honor were visited, one after the other. 

Prince Henry, who has this week given grand din- 
ners to the civil and military officers of the Court, a 
thing he never did before, supped on Monday with the 
reigning Queen and her whole Court. This proves 
nothing, except a desire to keep up the appearance of 
politeness. I forgot to say that he is to give a dinner 
to-morrow to all the subalterns of the regiment of 
Braun. This is gratuitous and ridiculous aflfectation, 
and will never make his peace with the army, by which 
he is truly despised. 

Baron Bagge, after refusing to pay any visits here, 
even those that common decorum required, saying 
that, according to the manner in which he had lived 
with the Heir Apparent, it was for the King to send 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 205 

him an invitation, yesterday received this invitation to 
Potsdam. The incident proves that music still is a 
passion. 

That infamous C has written to Chauvier, af- 
firming that he knew, past all dispute, it was to him 
he was indebted for the obligation of not being per- 
mitted to see the King ! that he was going into a coun- 
try in which he should find it easy to injure; and that 
he would use every exertion to effect his ruin; exclu- 
sive of the means with which he has been furnished 
by Chauvier himself. Chauvier has acted with pro- 
priety, and laid the letter before the King. 

The nocturnal jaunts continue. I still remain igno- 
rant of the object of the grand motions toward Aus- 
tria, and reciprocally. 



LETTER XLIV 

November 7th, 1786. 
The King himself has Interfered to produce a recon- 
ciliation JDCtween Bishopswerder and Goltz, the Tar- 
tan Peace for the present, therefore, is concluded; 
and the more firmly, because that war, open and 
avowed, is hotly carried on between the first favorite 
and Count Goertz. There has been great difficulty in 
preventing them coming to blows. What may be ar- 
gued of a King for whom they thus openly contend? 
Probably a regiment will be given to Goertz to send 
him out of the way; but the payment of his debts is 
the difficulty, for it appears that the last thing the 
King will part with is money. The treatment of the 
aides-de-camp is at length determined on. Bishops- 
werder has two thousand crowns; Goltz, the Tartar, 
and Bowlet each seventeen hundred. The head groom, 
Lindenau, also has two thousand crowns, with eight 



2o6 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

places of forage, which may be estimated at six hun- 
dred crowns, and fire and candle. Behold how the 
sandy plains of Brandenburg, with the aid of Silesia, 
be it understood, are capable of maintaining an army 
of two hundred thousand men 

The thermometer of business remains still at the 
same fixed point. There is no riddance of letters; one 
chamber is full of packets that remain unopened. The 
State Minister, Zedlis, has not been able to obtain an 
answer to his reports for more than three wrecks. 
Everything is in arrear. Yet the mode of living at 
Potsdam appears to have been tolerably well regu- 
lated, though Madame Rietz has been there. The 
latest hour at which the King has risen has been six 
o'clock. The Prince of Dessau has never seen him 
before half -past twelve, and perhaps not half an hour 
each day, dinner time excepted. It is at supper that 
the women make their appearance and that wrinkled 
cares are discarded. 

Welner has not quitted Potsdam, and two men are 
continually writing in his apartment. Hitherto he 
may be regarded as the monarch of domestic affairs. 
That he is neither deficient in talents nor information 
is a point undisputed; and the eternal disorder of the 
accounts, added to suspicion of the financiers in power, 
must have impelled the King to have abandoned him- 
self wholly to Welner, whose obscurity is his recom- 
mendation. 

I say the eternal disorder ; because in effect Fred- 
erick William L, with whom all domestic regulations 
originated, in which no alterations were made by his 
son, kept no general and exact accounts, — and acted 
thus, systematically: being acquainted himself wath 
the whole of his affairs, as he would not suffer any 
one of his Ministers to divine what the state of them 
was, he made out imperfect, over-charged, and false 



BERLL\ AND ST. PETERSBURG 207 

accounts. Frederick II., who never understood any- 
thing of finance, but who very well knew that money 
is the basis of all power, confined his views to the 
amassing of large sums; and he was so certain that 
his savings were enormous that he was satisfied with 
partial accounts. Such an interpretation is certainly 
more probable, in my opinion, than the imputation of 
having burned the general state of debtor and creditor, 
wuth the malicious intention of embarrassing his suc- 
cessor. The present King wishes for order, and he has 
reason so to do ; but it is an Augean stable, and I see 
no Hercules, — at least among those by w^hom he in- 
tends to be served. 

Count Finckenstein has wa'itten in very warm terms 
to the King, to inform him that the provocations of 
Count Hertzberg are so frequent that they are become 
insupportable ; and that his great age and his last ill- 
ness made him sincerely desirous of retreat. The 
King returned a very mild answer, very obliging, and 
what may be called apologetic; in which he earnestly 
requested him to remain in office, and promised that 
the cause of his complaints should cease. He prom- 
ised, perhaps, more than he can perform. Men of 
the most opposite tempers served together under Fred- 
erick II., and this is one of the characteristic traits of 
his reign. But it is no small presumption to imitate 
his manner; it cannot be expected that such imitation 
should succeed; for, in spite of the servility of the 
country, liberties are taken that were not permitted 
under the late King, of whom the world spoke very 
freely, but with whom no person was familiar. The 
very Academicians now make encroachments. Three 
new members have been proposed — one Boden, an 
astronomer; one Meierotto, the rector of a college; 
and one Ancillon, a minister of the Holy Gospel. 
Admirable choice! The King testified his surprise 



2o8 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

with asperity at this unusual proposition, made with- 
out its being even known whether he did or did not 
intend to increase the number of Academicians. The 
indiscretion will probably occasion some regulation. 
He has, however, signed a large yes to the proposal 
for I know not what Druid of the name of Erman, 
author of a multitude of vile sermons, and a refugee 
history, of which four volumes are already written, 
that might be reduced to thirty pages; and who has 
been proposed by the curator only, Count Hertz- 
berg, without the question having been put to the 
vote. 

The Boden of Paris seems to be forgotten, or worse. 
The King was told that he had written three letters to 
his Majesty without having received any answer. " I 
have no answer to give ; the fellow came here without 
orders." Such was the royal decision ! The King re- 
turns to-morrow for a few days. He has been so ac- 
customed to run from place to place, and to make only 
a momentary stay, that the habit seems to have become 

one of his wants. M. de H wrote to him, three 

days ago, to know w^hen he might take his leave, but 
has received no answer. 

The grand dinner of Prince Henry to the regiment 
of Braun was given yesterday, as I before wrote, All 
the officers and forty subalterns, who had served un- 
der him at the battle of Prague, sat at the Prince's 
table. He gave a medal worth fifteen ducats to each 
officer, a ducat to each subaltern, and a crown to each 
private. It would be difficult to be more awkwardly 
ostentatious. Had there been any need to have fur- 
ther injured himself in the King's opinion, he could 
not have found a better method; but this was com- 
pletely done before, and it must be well known too, for 
Roggerson, who had often visited Prince Henry dur- 
ing his two journeys into Russia, has not been to pay 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 209 

him his respects. The King gave him an audience, it 
is said, but only for a few moments. 

I do' not at this instant recollect the name of the per- 
son who is arrived from Vienna, and who at the 
King's table was very pleasant at the Emperor's ex- 
pense, which occasioned a coolness in the King and 
some gloominess, so as to denote marks of disappro- 
bation—silent but strong. 

The new ribbons are preparing. Moral com seems 
to cost the King least. Never was the remark of 
Frederick II. to Pritwitz more true than at present. 
The latter complained that the ribbon had been be- 
stowed on Braun before himself. '' My ribbon," said 
the King, '' is like saving grace; it may be given, can- 
not be merited." 

Count Arnim has been appointed master ot the 
hounds and a Minister of State, with a vote and a seat 
in the grand directory. In one of my former dis- 
patches I have spoken of him circumstantially. This 
is a pure choice of favor (and is the more marked 
because that the place of master of the hounds, taken 
from Schulemburg, had continually been solicited by 
Colonel Stein, who was rather in the King's good 
graces), but of favor founded, as I imagine, merely 
on the pleasure taken in the company of Arnim who 
is irreproachable in mind and manners. It is only 
another person of incapacity added to the Ministry. 
Rotten before ripE. Such I greatly fear will be 
the motto of the Prussian power. But their millions 
are good. It will, therefore, be of use to remit new 
propositions for a loan, if it be really intended to 
erect a bank, as all packets, gazettes, and private let- 
ters affirm, so that, myself excepted, everybody is in- 
formed of the project; for in my opinion these would 
be of more importance than the loan of a hundred and 
twenty-five millions, which the bank apparently will 



210 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

be able to borrow on its own credit. Struensee, who 
doubtless will be glad of this occasion of rendering 
himself useful to the King, has in plain terms asked 
what he is to think of the disorder of the Caisse d'Es- 
compte; of the letter of the Comptroller General to 
his administrators; of the project of a bank; of its ap- 
proaching realization; of the principles on which it is 
to be established; and especially what kind of directors 
shall have the management. He thinks the plan good, 
but is convinced that everything depends on those 
who shall have the direction. To all these questions, 
as you must be sensible, I know not what to reply; 
yet it is requisite I should soon know, because not to 
mention that any negotiation of this kind cannot suc- 
ceed here except by his aid, — for not one of the others 
understands anything of such affairs, — he has a right 
to interrogate me, since I made the first advances. 



LETTER XLV 

November 20th, 1786. 
Unfortunately, I cannot be blind to what is here 
daily confirmed by traits which are each more pitia- 
ble than the others, concerning the opinion that I 
have so long forborne to take of the man and of affairs. 
The King has just bestowed the ribbon of the Black 
Eagle on Anhalt. This gentleman is the son of a cook- 
maid, and of a multitude of fathers. He was origi- 
nally a groom ; he next sold smuggled coffee to the of- 
ficers. I know not by what means he became what he 
is, but I know that his principal function was that of 
a spy. He was afterward placed in the service of the 
present King while Prince of Prussia; and, as he 
mingled poisonous advice and odious tales, they des- 
tined him, as it is said (and the word they is in this 



\ BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 211 

case the most bitter of the enemies of the late King), 
to .ivii cute a crime which they neither had the address 
to coior nor the courage to consummate. Anhalt pos- 
sesses more mihtary talents than his native folly 
could promise. His warlike vocation seems to be 
remarkable by this singular characteristic, that he 
never possesses coolness except when heading his 
men. He has arrived, whether by these or other 
means, at the rank of Lieutenant General. As he 
is without understanding (the little he had he was 
deprived of by a dreadful fall, for which he was 
obliged to be trepanned), he continued in favor. 

He was detested at Konigsberg, where he com- 
manded, and this was a kind of recommendation to 
him at Potsdam, where the kingdom endured forty- 
six years of disgrace. 

Some days before the King's death, General Anhalt 
was sent for to Sans Souci. " You have lately mar- 
ried one of your daughters," said the King. " Yes 
Sire, I feel I have." " How much did you give with 
her?" ''Ten thousand crowns." "That is a large 
sum for you, who have nothing." On the morrow 
they were sent him by the King. Anhalt returned into 
Prussia. His benefactor died; he beheaded his por- 
trait, and substituted the head of his successor. The 
new King repairs to Konigsberg to receive homage, 
and bestows a superb box on Anhalt ; but, indeed, gives 
him notice he must quit the government of Prussia 
in two months' time, that is to say, at present. An- 
halt, being at an auction some days since and seeing 
the portrait of the late King sold at a low price, very 
coolly said, " Right, Til give you the other into the 
bargain." He retires with a pension of five thousand 
crowns, a ribbon, and a promise of being employed 
in war. This prostitution of reward, apparently ex- 
torted from weakness, is endeavored to be excused by 



212 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

alleging the fear that Anhalt should pass into the 
service of the Emperor, as he threatened in the foljpw- 
ing speech, which does not want dignity: "If yoi 
refuse me this favor, I must then go elsewhere, and 
prove that it is not because of my want of merit." I 
do not think this a sufficient reason, for the estates 
he had purchased near Magdeburg were a sufficient 
pledge for his person. 

Be this as it may, and, however singular the choice 
may appear, which has made a strong impression upon 
the public, it must be allowed that Anhalt is a great 
commander, an officer worth preserving, and that some 
recompense was due to him for the loss of his govern- 
ment of Prussia, with which, mad as he was, and often 
furious, he could not be intrusted. 

But none of these reasons can be alleged in behalf of 
Manstein, a simple captain, a common and even igno- 
rant officer, but a devout mystic; who, without any 
pretext, has been sent for and is destined, as it is 
said, to be governor of the young Princes, with the 
title of Lieutenant Colonel. To those who look into 
futurity, this is fearful. The whole army is offended. 
Indeed, it is probably not true; but the very suspicion 
speaks the public opinion. 

A singularity which has not excited less murmuring 
is that Heynitz, Minister of State for the department 
of the mines, is placed at the head of the commission 
against Wertenberg, a kind of disagreeable man who 
has long had the clothing of the troops; a subaltern 
knave, and perhaps nothing more; or perhaps less so 
than his predecessors. This species of inquisition, 
which appears to be the adopted method, and which 
will not easily be made familiar to the people, whom 
it will be difficult to persuade that the late King was 
negligent and a bad economist, — this species of in- 
quisition, I say, seems to indicate suspicions of the 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 213 

commanding officers, since the direction of such trials 
is taken from these officers, to whom they entirely ap- 
pertained. There are great complaints, and still 
greater contempt. This must be an ill symptom, es- 
pecially after a reign of only two months. 

Indolence and stagnations, its necessary result, con- 
tinue to be felt. In consequence of not having the let- 
ters sent after him, as was the custom of Frederick- 
11. , the King is prodigiously in arrear. He found 
thousands on his return from Silesia, his journey 
through which is a striking contrast to the incredible 
activity of the late King; who, however, did not de- 
vote more time, or rather who devoted less, than 
another to his trade of King. He only set apart an 
hour and a half each day on ordinary occassions for 
this purpose; but he never put off the business of the 
present day to the morrow. He knew, so well was he 
acquainted with man, that a bad reply was better than 
none. A heap of memorials and projects are on the 
table of the present King, most of which relate to 
military changes, on which he has never cast his eyes, 
and which have been productive of nothing, except for 
his vehement aversion for memorials. He regards 
them as a tax on his sovereign authority; and sup- 
poses advice of any kind to be an avowal of an opinion 
of his incapacity. Among the useless writings which 
have been remitted to him, there is said to be a me- 
morial from Baron Knyphausen, on foreign politics. 
There are indications which lead me to believe it is 
favorable to our system, and this has given him 
particular displeasure; its fate, therefore, was to be 
thrown aside, without hesitation, as the reveries of 
dotage. The Baron, however, has disowned to me 
that he is the author of this memorial. 

To the same sensation, apparently, which makes him 
so much detest advice, we must attribute the fol- 



214 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

lowing singularity : Welner has only had a stipend of 
three thousand crowns, deducted from the pensions 
formerly paid to the head officers of the commercial 
departments; the smallest of which pensions only is 
granted him, so that he is but the equal of those who 
have least influence, and have not the same industry. 
As the few preparations which are made are all made 
by him his labor must be very great. A single state- 
ment of the money accounts is said to have given him 
much trouble. At present, the exceedings of the re- 
ceipts over the expenditure, at least the civil, are 
known. The sum is greater than was supposed by near 
one-quarter, which is much. It is imagined that the 
chief part of this surplus will be applied to increase 
the pay of subalterns. Private soldiers undoubtedly 
deserve no greater honor than that of dying wath hun- 
ger. But I scarcely can believe they will dare to offend 
the corps of the captains. 

If the King give but little to those who seem to be 
his greatest favorites, yet there are indications that he 
bestows secret largessess ; or that he has secret reasons 
for conferring such on some persons. The chamber- 
lain Doernberg, an insignificant person in my opinion, 
who quitted the service of the Princess Amelia with 
ingratitude, she having paid his debts, to enter into 
that of the Queen, has twice within five days had his 
salary considerably augumented. At present he has 
two thousand crowns as chamberlain, a sum hitherto 
unheard of. What does this denote? Have they at 
length determined on the scheme of marrying Ma- 
demoiselle Voss? Have they cast their eyes on this 
fortunate mortal, who resembles a baboon? Do they 
intend insensibility to make his fortune? A captain in 
the Gendarmes said to me yesterday, " Since royal 
munificence is so amply showered on Doernberg, I for 
my part expect an annual gratification of fifty thou- 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 215 

sand crowns. This must be either an affair of mysti- 
cism, pimping, or marriage. But, if the last, why 
make so ridiculous a choice? What courtier is there 
who would refuse Mademoiselle Voss, with plenty of, 
money ? I did them too much honor in supposing such 
were to be found in this Vandalian Court. Not in 
places where men are accustomed to walk double will 
any be found who shall stand erect when such temp- 
tations are thrown in their way. Besides, what cannot 
money effect in a nation so poor ! I not long since saw 
Brederic, late lackey to Prince Henry, become a kind 
of favorite, because of his art as a chamber coun- 
selor, and ostentatiously display the cross and ribbon 
of a canonry of Magdeburg (Prince Henry is provost 
of this chapter). Seven thousand crowns, lent by the 
Prince, have purchased the stall ; and the Prince's well- 
beloved groom bears the sacred insignia, in a country 
where there is so much delicacy pretended on the ar- 
ticle of birth. 

Apropos of his patron. For a week past I have not 
heard this musical Prince mentioned, the height and 
depth of whose thermometer are the greatest that ever 
fell under my observation. The Count of Branden- 
burg requested permission of him to be present at 
the banquet he gave to that part of the regiment of 
Braun who fought under him at Prague. The Prince 
granted the child permission ; and, after highly caress- 
ing him, said, " It is difficult, my little friend, to con- 
verse with you here, but ask your father leave to come 
to my palace, and I shall be very glad to see you." 
Thus artful are his politics. He must employ a quan- 
tity of such stratagems to reimburse himself for his 
grand dinners. One of his table-confidants and ad- 
mirers said to me the other day, " Is it not very singu- 
lar that the Prince is so little esteemed, after all he has 
done for the army ? " — and he meant by this to crim- 



2i6 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

inate the army ! It appeared to me a notable speech. 

The anecdote respecting the Academy is still more 
curious than according to the manner in which I related 
it in my last. The Academician Schultz has written a 
very violent letter to the King, against Count Hertz- 
berg, and concerning the arbitrary manner in which he 
governs the Academy. The King sent the letter to 
Hertzberg, a marked token of disapprobation in this 
country. Busching, the geographer, on the same day, 
refused a seat in the Academy, unless a pension should 
be granted him of a thousand crowns. The only an- 
swer given to the complaints of Schultz was the nomi- 
nation of Erman, by Hertzberg, without consulting 
any person; and the King signed his yes, without ob- 
jecting to this nomination. Schultz wrote another let- 
ter, still more violent; what the consequences were I 
do not know. 

The disgrace of Launay is not so mild as it appears. 
It is openly avowed that Government only waits till he 
has furnished Silesia with coffee, and that then he is to 
be displaced. He very rashly undertook this contract, 
which he has bargained with traders to fulfill, who are 
emboldened by his downfall to disown or break their 
engagements at the moment when, all the navigable 
canals being frozen, there are such few means of re- 
pairing so great a deficiency. But the truth is the com- 
mission is suspended, because that they are secretly 
sending, through different parts of the kingdom, in 
search of proofs; a truly cruel and tryannical inquisi- 
tion, which shows that they are rather desirous of the 
guilt of Launay than of the public benefit. 

A man named Dubosc, formerly an eminent mer- 
chant at Leipsic, where, if I do not mistake, he failed, 
and well known for his visionary adherence to mys- 
ticism, has been sent for, and is at present employed, as 
is supposed, to give in a plan of commercial regula- 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 217 

tions as a substitute for exclusive privileges. It should 
seem they meditate a sally against the Splittgerbers, 
and that means are seeking to deprive them of the 
monopoly of sugar; a very just and salutary, but a 
very difficult and delicate act. 

An article of intelligence still more important is that 
Baron Knyphausen has had a secret conversation with 
the King ; but, though it comes from a good quarter, I 
will not warrant it to be true. Not that this would 
much astonish me. I know past doubt that the King, 
enraged at being obliged to send Count Goertz to Hol- 
land, at the very moment when the House of Orange 
itself complains of this Ambassador, wished after 
venting a torrent of passion and abuse, to recall both 
Goertz and Thulemeyer ; but that he was stopped short, 
because of the impossibility of finding a man in a 
country where there are none; and particularly none 
fit for Ambassadors, a part of administration that was 
highly neglected by the late King. His successor, per- 
haps, will be taught that fools are not good for any one 
purpose. 

Postscript. — Nothing new since I wrote this long 
letter. Various particulars assure me that the Prin- 
cess Frederica, the daughter of the King, gains great 
influence, and never meets with any refusal. This 
doubtless appertains to the history of Voss. 



LETTER XLVI 

TO THE DUG DE L 



November 12th, 1786. 

I FLATTERED mysclf that M. de H would bring 

me a packet from Your Grace. He informed me you 



2i8 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

had intended to intrust him with one, and I am ex- 
ceedingly grateful for the intention, although I have 
not profited by it; this I attribute to unforeseen circum- 
stances, which, while I pray for you, have my hearty 
maledictions. 

I hope that the Abbe de P has sent you the 

news of the country, concerning which I have not 
neglected occasionally to remit anecdotes tolerably 
characteristic of the moment. I feel the poverty of 
my own harvest more forcibly than any person ; but it 
ought not to be forgotten that I am neither provided 
with the pecuniary nor the ministerial means. It is 
impossible anything should escape the man of France 
if he be adroit, active, liberal, and has the art to invite 
proper guests to his daily dinners and suppers; for 
these are the efficacious means, and not public din- 
ners. He is, besides, a kind of register office, to which 
all the discontented, the babblers, and the covetous 
resort. Besides that, his intercourse with subalterns 
is natural to him and permitted; I, on the contrary, 
have need of great art and circumspection, in order to 
speak without offense or intrusion on public affairs. I 
rarely can address my discourse to persons in power. 
My very aspect terrifies them too much. The King 
never deigns to look at me but their countenances 
lengthen and grow pale. I have acted however, to the 
best of my abilities, and, as I believe, done all I could 
with means that are very mutilated, very ungracious, 
and very sterile; nor can I tell whether the person on 
whom the King bestows a salary of sixty thousand 
livres, and a post of honor here, sends much more in- 
formation than I do. But I well know that I, under 
the same circumstances, would have penetrated many 
clouds through which, stationed as I am, I have very 
dark views ; and that I would not discredit my nation, 
as he is accused of doing, by his haughty behavior, his 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 219 

bittersweet aspect and idleness that greatly resembles 
ignorance. 

M. de H will more fully relate, as I suppose, the 

particulars I have sent. He will tell you our cause is a 
lost one here, unless a change should take place among 
the Judges; that the way to re-establish our affairs is 
not to be over hasty; since this would but prolong re- 
sistance among men naturally phlegmatic, and whose 
phlegm we may safely conclude will not suffer them to 
continue long impassioned; that he himself was too 
hasty to come to a country which at the beginning of 
the present reign, when each is looking for advance- 
ment, is too restless and jealous to suppose that a gen- 
eral officer and an inspector in the service of France 
could really wish to be in the service of Prussia; that 
the chaos (for so affairs at present may well be called) 
must be suffered to subside, and from the nature of 
things acquire consistency (if on the contrary it should 
not suffer destruction), though it be but the consis- 
tency of apathy, before attempts should be made to 
interfere; that no person is at present firmly placed; 
that the grand question — '' Will the King, or will he 
not, have the courage to take a first Minister?" — is 
far from being resolved, even by the calculation of 
probabilities ; that on this determination, however, the 
fate of the country depends, and even the ultimate 
capacity of the King, whose inability will be of little 
import if this remedy should be found to be a substitute 
for his indecision; that the symptoms are vexatious, 
and indeed disagreeable, but that we must not pro- 
nounce too hastily, because our information is the re- 
verse of complete. 

It appears to me indubitable that Prince Henry is 
ruined past resource; and I fear (in his behalf) that, 
on this occasion as on many others, chance has ar- 
ranged affairs better than our precaution. But 



220 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

whether or no, his cunning, his boasting, his inconsis- 
tency, the intemperance of his tongue, and the vileness 
of his creatures, seconded by the most universal dis- 
credit, have added to personal antipathy, and the gen- 
eral and habitual fear of appearing to be governed. 

The destiny of the Duke of Brunswick is far other- 
wise uncertain ; nor do I believe it will be decided be- 
fore there is an open rupture. But it is peculiar to him, 
and to him alone, that, should he once grasp power, it 
will not afterward escape him ; for a better courtier, a 
man of deeper views, more subtle, and at the same 
time more firm and more pertinacious, does not exist. 

You may well imagine, Monseigneur, that, if I sup- 
pose facts are too partial, and hitherto not sufficiently 
numerous to be reduced to system, on which conjec- 
tures may be formed respecting the King and politics, 
I am still much farther from thinking I can, with any 
appearance of probability satisfactory for a wise man, 
divine what will be the grand foreign connections, and 
political influence of Prussia, under the present reign. 
I have sketched my ideas on the subject in a memorial, 
which is a work of labor; but which (except the 
proofs the country affords, and which here, as I im- 
agine, will be found united and compared more accu- 
rately than anywhere else) is only a succession of con- 
jectures. It contains many things which may, and per- 
haps not one of which will, happen. I am fortunate 
if, in this calculation of the arithmetic of chances, I 
have so far succeeded as to describe things as they 
are, and as they may be. From this memorial, ac- 
companied by three or four others, on parts of Ger- 
many which lucky chance has given me opportunities 
of perfectly knowing, a plan may be formed accord- 
ing to which the Germanic edifice may be recon- 
structed, a work that ought to be begun, if its ruin is 
not desired. And here, I confess, the indecision of 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 221 

man, the complication of incidents, and the obscurity 
of future contingencies arrest me at each step; and I 
have no other guide than what is offered by your grand 
and noble project of coalition, between France and 
England, the end of which is to give happiness to the 
world, and not afford amusement to orators and news- 
writers. 

M. de H has informed me that Your Grace in- 
tends coming hither in the spring. This certainly 
would be the only means of rendering my stay here 
supportable. But I hope you will not so long be left 
in inactivity so unworthy of your talents. As to my- 
self, after having paid a tribute for six months, during 
which I have the satisfaction conviction gives of hav- 
ing employed uncommon assiduity and research, in 
compensation for the want of natural talents, I think 
I have a right to shake off an equivocal and doubtful 
existence, every way embarrassing, requiring dexterity 
and fortitude seldom found to preserve personal re- 
spect, and in which I consume my time and my strength 
in a species of labor that has no charms for me, or in 
the languor of etiquette and company still worse than 
this labor. Of this I have informed the Abbe de 
P in express terms. 



LETTER XLVII 

November 24th, 1786. 
The most distressing incident possible has just hap- 
pened to me. It is a very extraordinary story. Ma- 
dame de F the famous Trihade, coming from the 

waters of Schwalback, has dropped here as if from 
the clouds, under a borrowed name, with an immense 
train, and not a single letter of recommendation except 



222 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

to bankers. Can you imagine what project this pro- 
foundly audacious and indeed capable woman has 
entertained? The conquest of the King! And as, 
in punishment for my sins, I have known her long 
and well, the damnable siren has addressed herself 
to me, to lay down a chart of the country for her; 
and, in return, receive, as a deposit, that high confi- 
dence which I should most willingly have bequeathed 
to Beelzebub. However, as she is a demon of seduc- 
tion, as she does not ask for money, at least not at 
present, and as her qualities of body and mind in 
many respects correspond with those of the Monarch, 
if this be not an opportunity to be sought after neither 
is it one to reject. Besides, as the design is begun, and 
as it will be better to undertake the direction than be 
exposed to ridiculous broils, I am at present in search 
of means to afford her a decent pretense of remaining 
here a fortnight; taking care to draw my stake, or 
rather taking care not to put it down. 

If the Comte d'Esterno were not in every respect one 
and the same, the affair might presently be managed. 
She might be going to Petersburg, through Warsaw, 
— waiting here till she could travel in a sledge, which 
from the setting in of the frost cannot be long delayed ; 
might give a few select suppers; excite curiosity, etc., 
etc. But this mode is not to be depended on ; it is too 
subtle for his understanding. 

Were not Prince Henry indiscretion itself, nothing 
could be more easy than by his aid to introduce her to 
the Court. She might have brought him letters. But 
in an hour's time the aide-de-camp, Tauensien, would 
be informed of everything; as would his aunt, Madame 
Knibbeck, in five minutes afterward ; and her I suspect 
to be the go-between of Mademoiselle Voss. We must 
depend on our resources. I shall take care not to en- 
tangle myself; though, indeed, her very first step has 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 223 

entangled me. It is a kind of a fatality; and how 
might I escape ? 

I have made many reflections on this odd adven- 
ture. Our plan must be not to abandon our purpose, 
and not to be too scrupulous concerning the means. 
The few we have are, in truth, impracticable. 

If she remain in her present situation, there will be 
no means of seeing the King. The mystics, the Voss 
party, and the anti-French in general, will all be her 
enemies. If she conceal her intentions, she will be 
opposed by the party of the Rietz, and the subalterns. 
Either I must often visit her, which will render her 
suspected ; or I must not, and she will conduct herself 
improperly. 

If this partake of the adventurer, I voluntarily en- 
gross the blame. 

Nothing can be done in haste, with a German prince. 
Should her stay be long, that stay will of itself divulge 
the secret. 

It is not possible but that, in a week, her true name 
must be known. The reputation she has acquired will 
then spoil everything, in a country where seductive 
qualities will not excuse vice, and where a trip is not 
the less a trip because made by a woman. 

The follies most inexcusable are those which expose 
to ridicule without compensation, of the number of 
which this is one. D'Esterno will relate his trifling 
tales; Boden his trifling scandal; Tauensien propagate 
his trifling intrigues; before appearance, it will be 
necessary to let the crowd go by, who will come and 

endeavor 1 will, therefore, send her to Warsaw, 

and procure her letters. She may return with other 
letters, if you do not inform me by what means she 
may be prevented, should such be 3^our wish ; for, though 
I can delay, how may I forbid her return ? Such I have 
thought the least hazardous proceeding in this fantas- 



224 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

tic farce, which I, with good reason, think of greater 
importance than you may be tempted to do, because at 

Paris Madame de F is, Hke many others, httle 

more than a courtesan; while here, the niece of an 

Ambassador and the widow of a P G , etc., 

will never be supposed not to have been sent by Gov- 
ernment, or, at least, not to have come hither under 
its protection. She, therefore, must not be suffered to 
commit any great folly. 

The King has lately terminated a suit which had 
been in contest for three-and-twenty years. The Duke 
of Mecklenburg-Schwerin formerly borrowed a hun- 
dred thousand crowns of Frederick II., and gave some 
bailliages (or districts) as a security. Hither Frederick 
immediately sent a regiment of hussars into quarters. 
The regiment, as you may well suppose, raised recruits. 
The people of Mecklenburg were shocked by this act of 
despotism, and offered to repay the late King; who, 
during twenty-three years, always found pretenses to 
avoid receiving the money. His successor has with- 
drawn the troops. It is true he loses an opportunity of 
enlisting some of the country people, but he will an- 
nually save thirty thousand crowns ; and there is like- 
wise a new member gained for the Germanic confed- 
eration, and what that might be valued at, this is 
worth. 

On Sunday (the 12th), at the principal inn in Ber- 
lin, the marriage of the Countess Matuska and a Prus- 
sian officer named Stutheren, was celebrated. The 
Countess is a sister of Mademoiselle Hencke (Madame 
Rietz). She thought to have married a Polish gen- 
tleman, who some months since withdrew. Once de- 
ceived, she next made choice of a young officer. The 
King has given money, and money enough. It is sup- 
posed that Mademoiselle Hencke, who now is said not 
to be married to Rietz, will retire and live with her 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 225 

sister, that she may not impede the projects formed to 
enjoy the maid of honor in peace. 

There are whisperings of a very remarkable and very 
secret supper, at which the shade of Caesar was taken. 
The number of mystics increases. They affirm that 
the credit of Bishopswerder dechnes. I do not beheve 
a word of it. 

No new act of finance. Depositions against poor 
Launay are poured in, and in all probability his for- 
tune must purchase his freedom. 

Nothing new, or at least nothing certain, from Hol- 
land, except that Count Goertz has found the way to 
displease the States, the House of Orange, and the 
principal persons who are enumerated among the 
French faction. I well know what a philosopher would 
deduce from this : the politician will perceive there are 
commissions, the discharge of which he never ought 
to undertake. 



LETTER XLVni 

November iSth, 1786. 
It is every day more apparent that the King does not 
forget those who were attached to him before his 
accession to the throne; and this propensity, which 
is successively developed, proves him, at least, an hon- 
est man. Count Alexander Wartensleben, an officer 
in the guards, whom I have several times mentioned, 
had been educated with him. Hence that intimacy 
which will not admit of secrets. The late King sent 
for Wartensleben, and said to him, '' I am pleased to 
see you so very intimate with my nephew; continue 
your friendship. But it is also necessary you should 
serve the State. I ought to be informed of the pro- 
ceedings of my successor. Mein liebes Kind, you will 



226 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

come and let me know what passes at your parties of 
pleasure. I shall not forbid them. I shall only warn 
you when there is any danger; and of this you your- 
self will inform the Prince of Prussia. Depend upon 
me, mein S chat a." Wartensleben, who knew the old 
fox, replied '' that he was the friend of the Prince, the 
friend of his heart, and that he would never become 
his spy." The King then assumed his furious coun- 
tenance. " Herr Lieutenant, since you will not 
serve me, I will at least take care that you shall obey." 
On the morrow he was sent to Spandau, where he 
was imprisoned three months, and after that ordered 
to a garrison regiment in the very farther part of 
Prussia. On the new King's accession he was recalled. 
After a momentary displeasure, which Wartensleben's 
refusal to go to Sweden occasioned, and which perhaps 
was the contrivance of the other favorites, the King 
has bestowed a prebendary on him, the income of 
which is valued at twelve thousand crowns; and, ac- 
cording to all appearance, intends to give him the 
command of the guards. 

The following is a second example of a like kind. 
When the suit was carried on against the Minister 
Goern, who was superintendent of the College of 
Commerce, among his papers was a bill on the Heir 
Apparent for thirty thousand crowns. The money 
must be procured within twenty-four hours. Arnim 
went in search of the Prince, and offered him the sum, 
which was most joyfully accepted. This probably is 
the origin of the favor which the new Minister enjoys; 
I cannot conjecture any other, except what may be 
deduced from the King's easiness of character, his 
indecision and mediocrity of mind ; which, however, is 
just and clear, as I have said in my former dispatches. 

The King has done a third humane and generous 
act. His first wife, the Princess EHzabeth of Bruns- 











mmBH^S^^^s 






i 1 




p[^^.v^_ 


■r-*'«s 




'^ r^^^ ■ 






n 


Iri 


^ •' ■-?< 


iJ 


^^ 









BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 227 

wick, has received an increase of allowance, consisting 
of the revenues of the bailliage of Ziganitz, which 
amount to twelve thousand crowns, with liberty to 
retire whenever she pleases. Certain of not being 
received by her family, she will remain at Stettin. 
But the news has transported her with joy. She has 
publicly declared that the lady of General Schwerin, 
her gouvcrnante, has no more right to give her any 
orders; and, for the first time these eighteen years, 
she took an airing on horseback with Mademoiselle 
Plates, that she might immediately enjoy that liberty 
to which she was restored. 

A trait which we ought to add, in proof of the 
King's morals, is his having given up the letters to 
Prince Henry, which passed in his correspondence 
with Frederick. Their number amounts to five hun- 
dred and eighty-seven, on State affairs, from the year 
1759 to the year 1786. It had been unseasonably 
reported that the Prince was privately of his brother's 
opinion concerning their nephew. These letters, how- 
ever, have proved that he did not wish it should be 
known. He even rendered him services; and, for ex- 
ample, when Count Wartensleben of whom I have 
just spoken, was imprisoned, he sent him a grant of a 
pension of a hundred a year, which he still enjoys. 

The famous chamber hussar, Schoening, the con- 
fidential man of the deceased King, has lately been 
appointed assistant to the cashier of the military chest, 
with a salary of three thousand crowns. This cer- 
tainly is not a rancorous act. Schoening, indeed, is 
not a man without intelligence; and he is the deposi- 
tary of numerous secrets, which ought not at present 
to be made public, perhaps never. 

In opposition to all these good actions, we must 
place the apathy of the King, on the subject of his 
personal debts. He is in no haste to pay those that 

8 — Memoirs Vol. 5 



228 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OE 

are not of the household, and there is a very consider- 
able sum appertaining to the latter which remains 
unsettled. 

It is determined that the King- is to discharge all 
the persons employed as tax gatherers on the French 
finance system, which in itself is a laudable act; for 
were there a necessity for some years to prolong the 
farming of the customs, yet, either the French col- 
lectors already have, or never will have, taught the 
Germans the mode of transacting the business. And is 
not the Prussian Monarch the King of Germans? But 
innovation is a very delicate thing; and I see no prep- 
arations made to lessen the shocks that must be re- 
ceived. The farmers of tobacco and snuff have been 
informed that their administration must cease on the 
1st of June, 1787. All persons thenceforward will be 
allowed to cultivate tobacco, and to make and sell 
snuff. This is a very important object; for the tobacco 
that grows on these barren sands is some of the best 
in Germany, and formerly was a very considerable 
branch of trade. On the ist of July grants are to be 
delivered, gratis, to whoever shall make the requisi- 
tion. (Nay, freedom is promised for coffee, too.) 
From 1783 to 1786, the duties on snuff and tobacco 
had yielded about sixteen hundred thousand livres 
more than the sum they had been estimated at by the 
King; so that these formed a revenue of something 
more than a million of crowns, and sometimes a mil- 
lion four hundred thousand. Yet the collectors had 
not the right of buying the leaf tobacco; they were 
obliged to purchase it from the warehouses of the 
Maritime Company, by whom it was sold at a profit 
of cent per cent. These collectors committed infinite 
vexations on the subject, to obtain a surplus, with 
which it was necessary to come before the King when 
they delivered in their accounts; otherwise, he could 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 229 

neither find wisdom in their proceedings nor talents in 
themselves. The King leaves the collectors their sal- 
aries till they can be provided for, and this is humane ; 
for the change will affect not less than twelve hundred 
families. But how will they find a substitute for this 
revenue? A capitation tax is spoken of, and is cer- 
tainly under deliberation. The subjects are to be com- 
prised in twelve classes ; the rich merchants are to pay 
twenty- four crowns; the rich inhabitants twelve 
crowns ; two crowns for obscure citizens ; and the peas- 
ants something less than two francs. What a manner 
of beginning a reign it is, to tax persons before prop- 
erty! In the collection of this odious tax, which sets 
a price on the right of existence, the tobacco excise- 
men are to be employed. The capitation, however, is 
somewhat softened by being paid by the family and 
not by the head. But the proselytes to, and even the 
apostles of, this project do not estimate the tax at 
more than two millions of crowns annually; which 
sum is the product of tobacco and coffee united, but 
which scarcely will supply the deficiency; and those 
who understand calculation in finance will be careful 
not to estimate a tax equally productive in figures and 
reality. I am surprised that he does not first gain a 
better knowledge of substitutes; and that he should 
begin by operations which I have pointed out as things 
to prepare, and should defer those with which I 
thought he ought to commence. 

Heinitz, Minister for the department of the mines, 
and president of the commission commanded to exam- 
ine the administration of General Wartenberg, warned 
no doubt by universal clamor, has remonstrated to the 
King that it is requisite to add some mihtary men to 
the commissioners. His Majesty has in consequence 
appointed General Moellendorf. 

To give a specimen of the malversations attributed 



230 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OE 

to the Jew Wartenberg, which it is said were highly 
surpassed by his predecessors, the following trait is 
cited. He made up clothing for a regiment of foot, 
without having shrunk the cloth. The coats were so 
tight that they scarcely would button on the men. 
The first day they were worn by the regiment there 
happened a heavy shower. The quartermaster said 
that, if the soldiers pulled off their regimentals, they 
never could put them on again ; accordingly they were 
commanded to lie all night in their clothes, and dry 
them upon their backs. 

The next is an example of another kind, and char- 
acteristic of Frederick II. One of the cash keepers of 
Wartenberg stole eighty thousand crowns. The Gen- 
eral informed the King, and waited his commands. 
Frederick replied he had nothing to say to the matter, 
for he was for his own part determined not to lose 
the money. Wartenberg understood this jargon, as- 
sembled all the army clothiers, and requested they 
would divide the loss, urider pain of being no more 
employed. The clothiers cried, cursed, lamented their 
wretched destiny, and subscribed. Wartenberg wrote 
to the King that the money was again in the military 
chest. Frederick sent a very severe answer, and con- 
cluded his letter by telling him " this was the last time 
he should be pardoned." 

Private anecdotes continue much the same. The 
general report is that the King is to espouse Made- 
moiselle Voss with the left hand, — a German mode of 
ennobling courtesans, invented by pliant courtiers and 
complaisant priests to save appearances, say they. 
This lady still continues a mixture of prudery and 
cynisme, affectation and ingenuousness. She can find 
understanding only in the English, whose language 
she speaks tolerably well. 

Manstein is suspected to be the author of some of 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 231 

the intended changes in the army, the purport of which 
is to better the condition of the soldier and the subal- 
tern, at the expense of the captain. I repeat, this last 
is a formidable cohort; and that innovations of such 
a kind require great foresight and inflexible fortitude.' 
Prince Henry, who is profoundly silent, in public, 
concerning all operations, will very warmly take part 
with the army, should it find cause of complaint; and 
hopes thus to regain what, by his excessive haughti- 
ness, he has lost. But the army aristocracy know him 
too well to confide in him; they know that the Gitons 
have been, and will always continue, with him, the 
sovereign arbiters; that, when circumstances have 
obliged him to seek the aid of men of merit, he has 
always found their presence a burden, which his crazy 
frame has shaken off as soon as possible, — that, in 
fine, his day is ended, with respect to war, and that he 
is odious to the Ministry. 

It seems one Count Briihl is chosen governor of the 
Prince Royal; and nothing better proves the influence 
of Bishopswerder than this eternal preference of 
Saxons. Count Bri.ihl, son of the ostentatious satrap 
of the same name, brother of the Grand Master of the 
Saxon Artillery, amiable, well informed, really or pre- 
tensedly believing in the reveries of the mystics, with 
little of the soldier, yet willing to profit by circum- 
stances and to enter the military career with gigantic 
strides — this Count, I say, demands to enter the ser- 
vice as a lieutenant general ; a thing unheard of in the 
Prussian army, and which will cause infinite dis- 
content. 

An interdict has lately been issued, prohibiting the 
discount of bills at the bank; which is very wise in 
theory, but here accompanied by great inconveniences 
in practice; for either the bank or the King must pay 
the interest of two and a half per cent for about seven- 



232 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

teen millions of crowns, which is the amount of the 
capital of, and the money brought into, the bank, in a 
country where moneyed men find no means of em- 
ploying their capitals. The bank cannot pay this two 
and a half per cent without becoming burdensome to 
the King, except by discounting bills of exchange; 
and it will hereafter be the less able, if the Maritime 
Company, founded as I have before said, on so frail 
a basis, and obliged to give at least ten per cent to the 
proprietors, should lose any one of its most beneficial 
exclusive privileges, — that of wood, for example, — 
and should not be able to afford the bank, to which the 
Maritime Society pays five per cent for all the money 
it there borrows, the same sources of profit which have 
hitherto been open. 

First Postscript. — The Minister Schulemburg has 
resigned; his resignation is not yet accepted. 

The King yesterday supped with his daughter, 
Mademoiselle Vierey — the intimate friend of Made- 
moiselle Voss, and placed by her in his daughter's 
service since his accession to the throne — and the well- 
beloved. Hence it should seem that the romance draws 
toward a conclusion. 

It is more than ever certain that the King transacts 
no business, and that he is mad after pleasure. The 
secrets of the palace on this subject are very ill-kept 
indeed; and nothing, as I think, can better prove the 
feebleness of the master, the little awe in which he is 
held, and the worthlessness of his creatures. 

Second Postscript. — The King is so terrified by 
the universal clamor which the capitation tax has ex- 
cited, that it is renounced. Some of his intimates 
to-day spoke to me of substitutes; but what can be ex- 
pected from an avaricious and weak Prince, whom 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 23 



oO 



two days' murmurings have caused to retreat, and to 
whom we can only say, '' Tax the estates of the nobil- 
ity, and lend out some of your millions ; that you may 
procure the interest which nations in debt are obliged 
to pay." 



LETTER XLIX 

November 21st, 1786. 
There are suspicions — which are daily strengthened 
— of a secret negotiation between the Emperor and 
Prussia; or at least that propositions have been made, 
either by the first or reciprocally, on which delibera- 
tions are held. I neither have the money nor the 
requisite means to discover what they are. An Am- 
bassador can effect anything of this kind, and with 
impunity. But, though I even possessed the great 
engine of corruption, what danger should I not be in, 
should I set it in motion ? I have no credentials, direct 
or indirect. An act of authority might dispose of me 
and my papers in an instant; and I should be ruined, 
here and elsewhere, for my too inconsiderate zeal. 
Spur on your Ambassador, therefore, or hasten to 
oppose to this puissant coalition, which nothing could 
resist on this side of the Rhine, the system of union 
with England, the basis of which you have traced out, 
and which shall be the salvation of the world. Think 
on Poland, I conjure you. What they have done (if 
they did not extend their acquisitions it was in fact 
because they would not) they will again do, and that 
even without the intervention of Russia ; of that sleep- 
ing giant, who, waking, may change the face of the 
globe. 

In truth, it is the coolness between the two Imperial 
Courts which most confirms the suspicions of a new 



234 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

system. All that I can imagine, concerning its founda- 
tion, is that its pretext is the election of a King of the 
Romans, and its purport a strict alliance, which shall 
destroy the Germanic confederation. As this con- 
federation was the work of the King while Prince of 
Prussia, or as he wishes to believe it his, and as he 
regards it as a masterpiece, it may be doubted whether 
the Emperor will succeed. But, if the news of yester- 
day be true, there is a great point gained. Advice is 
received that the Electress Palatine is beyond hope. 
Should she die, the Elector would marry again on the 
morrow, and affairs may and must assume a different 
face. If I am not mistaken, it is difficult to reflect too 
seriously on this subject. For my own part, unless 
my instructions and my means are amplified, I only 
can observe, according to the best of my power, the 
internal acts of government and the Court. 

The reason that Count Schulemburg, one of the 
Ministers of State, has demanded to retire is, in part, 
that he was charged to carry the capitation tax into 
execution, which he neither conceived nor approved, 
and which he truly regarded as a very unpopular, if 
not a very odious, office. This Minister, a man of 
understanding, and w^ho would have again been at 
the head of affairs if, at his first cause of disgust, he 
had determined to resign his place, is infinitely dis- 
agreeable to the domestic agents. The long favor he 
has enjoyed, his rapid fortune, and his watchful per- 
spicacity, have angered or disturbed all his rivals. 
Neither is he one of those pliant instruments that will 
bend into any form. The incapacity of most of the 
other Ministers afforded him the pretense of being 
obstinate in opinion. The absurdities of the courtiers, 
not to say their extravagant follies, emboldened him 
to return that contempt which the reputation of his 
abilities incites with usury. For what will not such a 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 235 

reputation eradicate, especially in a country where 
men are so scarce? But if, as it is said (I have not 
yet had time to verify the fact), there be a coalition 
between Struensee and Welner, Schulemburg is un- 
done, for they will no longer stand in need of him. 
As he made illness his pretense, the King, in a very 
friendly letter, only accepted his resignation per 
interim and on condition that his signature should 
sanction whatever related to his department. 

Meantime the Aulic systems, that of mysticism, and 
the favor of the mystics, are continued, or, rather, 
increased and adorned. The Duke of Weimar arrived 
here last night. He has the apartments of the Duke 
of Brunswick at the palace. This Prince, the great 
apostle of the fashionable sect, and of whom I spoke 
in my dispatches from Brunswick and Magdeburg, 
had long had the character of being only an arbiter 
elegantiarum; a zealous promoter of letters and arts; 
an economist by system; and a spendthrift by tem- 
perament. I some months since suspected him of 
military enthusiasm. It is now avowed. He comes 
to enter into the Prussian service. Such generals will 
never renew the War of Seven Years. 

In other respects affairs continue the same. The 
King invited himself to sup with Prince Henry to- 
day. The Prince, who continues his awkward plans, 
stifling his pent-up rage, has informed the foreign 
ambassadors that the doors of his palace would be 
opened every Monday, and that, if they thought proper 
to form card parties there, he should receive them 
with pleasure. He wishes to change the custom which 
hitherto has prohibited all who appertain to the corps 
diplomatique from eating with princes of the blood, 
and insensibly to invite them to suppers. His credit is 
at the lowest ebb; yet I still believe, would he perse- 
vere in silence, abstain from all pretensions, impatience. 



2^6 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OE 

and avidity of power, he would highly embarrass the 
opposite party, and would at length be triumphant. 

Murmurs become general against the obscure agents 
of the Cabinet; and the nobihty, now neglected to 
make room for the Saxons, would be better pleased 
to behold a prince at the head of administration than 
obscure clerks, who never can acquire great and ac- 
knowledged fortunes, except by great changes. Yet 
the aristocracy is little dependent on such subalterns, 
and holds them in little dread. 

The Duke of Courland is soon to arrive. As he is 
to be reimbursed considerable sums, it is to be pre- 
sumed that the whole of the debts of the Heir Appar- 
ent, which it is not decent to have left unpaid for sev- 
eral months after his accession, will then be discharged. 
This fact, combined with the suppers of the procur- 
esses, the number of which suppers increases at the 
Princess Frederica's, and for which purpose her estab- 
lishment has evidently been granted, seriously attaint 
the moral character of the King. 

Madame de F , who would not depart for War- 
saw without making some attempt, yesterday had a 
very gay audience of the King; an audience of anec- 
dote, at which he complained of his tiresome trade, 
and was earnest in his desires that she should remain 
at Berlin ; reproached her with having stolen the por- 
trait of Suck from him; and complained to her of the 

impoliteness and blunders of the Prince de P , who 

thought his very daughter, the Princess Frederica, 
ugly and slatternly. This continued an hour, and 

probably if Madame de F had come hither with 

greater precaution and for a longer time, she might 
have had some success. But it is a being so perverse, 
so avaricious, and so dangerous, that it is perhaps 
best she should travel with her talents elsewhere; to 
Paris, for example, where she is known, where she 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG ^zy 

would not increase licentiousness, and never could 
obtain any important influence; whereas, if admitted 
to the privy council of Kings, she might set Europe in 
flames to obtain money, or even for her own private 
diversion. I took advantage of the moment that she 
thought proper to depart from the route I had traced 
out, to reiterate my information that her proceedings 
might have consequences much more serious than re- 
sult from wounded vanity, and to declare I no longer 
should be a party concerned. 

1. Because it did not become me to risk my char- 
acter, in an affair where my advice was not followed. 

2. And because the ambition of ladies has not, can- 
not have, the same motives, principles, proceedings, 
and conclusions, as that of a man who has a respect 
for himself. 

Should she succeed, which appears to me impossible, 
she is too much in my power to escape my influence. 

Postscript. — Lord Dalrymple, it is reported, is re- 
called, and Ewart remains at the head of the embassy 
without a superior. Dalrymple is a man of honor and 
sense; sometimes wearisome, because he is contin- 
ually wearied, but endowed with more understanding 
than will be believed by those who have not carefully 
observed him; and also with generous, liberal, and 
fixed principles. If pacific coalition be sincerely in- 
tended, it is necessary to bring Dalrymple Ambassador 
to Paris. With respect to Ewart, I believe the Cab- 
inet at St. James's finds it convenient to maintain a 
spy here, who is the intimate friend of one Minister 
and the son-in-law of another. But what can be al- 
leged in excuse of the Cabinet of Berlin, that shall 
tolerate such an encumbrance? This is but public 
report, which I suspect. 

Commissions of inquiry begin to be fashionable; 



238 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

one has lately been appointed to examine the monopoly 
of sugars. The people of Hamburg offered to supply 
the same articles at less than half price. 

Another to examine the cloth manufactory. 

Another the wood monopoly, which is to be reduced 
to half its present price (independent of the suppres- 
sion of the company, by which it is furnished). But 
how ? By what means ? The change is assuredly one 
of the most urgent, and the most profitable that could 
be made for the country ; but the abolition of all these 
monopolies, sugar excepted, which is granted to an 
individual, supposes the destruction of the Maritime 
Company, that strange firm, which has promised the 
proprietors a dividend of ten per cent, be circum- 
stances what they may. This fantastic superstructure 
cannot be pulled down, unless by a very able hand, 
without risk of danger from its ruins. Therefore, in 
his letter to the Minister Schulemburg, the King re- 
nounces this project, and commands that it should be 
contradicted in all the public papers. What a fluctua- 
tion of plans, orders, and intentions! What poverty 
of power and of means! 



LETTER L 

November 24th, 1786. 
Count Hertzberg has made a new attempt to inter- 
fere in the affairs of Holland, which had been 
interdicted him by the King, and has presented a 
memorial on the subject, in which he pretends to prove 
that crowned heads have several times stood forth as 
mediators between the States and the Stadtholder ; and 
that the insidious reply of France stated that as fact 
which was in dispute. Prince Henry believes this me- 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 239 

morial has produced some effect. I have my reasons 
for being of a different opinion; however, I informed 
him that, if he could procure me a copy, its futiHty 
should soon be demonstrated. I doubt whether he has 
even thus much power. 

Here let me remark, we are reconciled. I refused 
two invitations, and he has made every kind of advance 
to me, which decorum requires I should receive with 
politeness. 

The journey of the Duke of Weimar certainly had 
no other end but that of his admission into the Prus- 
sian service, which is to strengthen the rising fame of 
the Germanic confederation. This prince in reality 
warmly protects the system of those who find, in the 
depth of their mystical abilities, rules for governing a 
kingdom. The favor in which these systems are held 
continually increases in fervor; or rather, is become 
visible, for it never w^as cool. The brother of the 
Margrave of Baden, a fashionable enthusiast, has a 
natural son, for whom he wishes to provide. This is 
the great affair of which he is come hither personally 
to treat, and he has met a miraculously kind welcome. 

Business is not quite so well. There is so much 
confusion in domestic affairs that the King only issues 
money on account to the various officers of the house- 
hold. It is determined that all his debts, while Prince 
of Prussia, are to be paid ; that the Prince Royal shall 
have an establishment, and a table of ten covers; that 
the Princess Frederica shall have another, equal to 
the establishment of the Queen; and that the period 
when these arrangements are to take place is to be 
after the statements of expense have been formed. 

The army is discontented. 

1. Because the King appears on the parade only 
once a week. 

2. Because commissions of major and lieutenant 



240 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

colonel are multiplied to satiety (for example, all the 
captains who have been in actual service have obtained 
them; this is the second chapter of titles, and patents 
of nobility, by scores) ; a favor which never was 
formerly granted, not even at the solicitation of the 
greatest princes. 

3. Because much is talked of, little done; because 
few are punished, and little is required; and, in a 
word, because the army does not now, as formerly, 
absorb the whole attention of the Sovereign. 

It does not appear that Manstein diminishes the 
credit of the aide-de-camp Goltz, who has become a 
count, and who, in what relates to military affairs, 
has evidently more influence than his rivals. He has 
great abilities, without having such as are necessary 
to that place, which, in fact, is equivalent to that of 
minister for the war department. 

It is the subject of astonishment to the few men of 
observation who are attentive to whatever may lead 
to a knowledge of the moral character of the new 
King, that he should behave so coldly to one of his 
aides-de-camp named Boulet, whom I have before 
several times mentioned. Boulet is a French refugee 
of no superior understanding; an honest man, with 
little ambition ; a very ordinary engineer, though here 
a distinguished one, because here there are none. He 
has been twenty years attached to the Monarch, but 
never was admitted a party in his secret pleasures, 
which were formerly almost necessary to support the 
solitude of Potsdam and the hatred of the late King. 
He neither increases nor diminishes in favor, and his 
influence is almost a nullity. Such a repugnance for 
a man of some consequence in his profession, and who 
neither can offend nor disgust, is enigmatical. 

It is nearly certain that the capitation plan will be 
rejected. This hasty expedient would not have been 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 241 

a substitute equal to their wants. But you must feel 
how much so many variations will diminish all con- 
fidence in the subaltern and concealed administrators, 
who act instead of the ministers; and how every cir- 
cumstance occurs to render a prime minister necessary. 
Nothing seems determined on except a desire to 
change. There is no system; for I cannot call the 
vague desire of easing the people by that term; nor 
any regular plans, formed from knowledge, examina- 
tion, and reflection. 

None of the dif^culties, for example, had been fore- 
seen that arise from the suppression of the monopoly 
and administration of tobacco, which afforded an 
asylum to twelve hundred invalids, army subalterns, 
and even lieutenants. These invalids must live, and be 
maintained by the King. Nor is this all. Shares in 
the tobacco company originally cost a thousand 
crowns, and brought in eleven per cent ; the price after- 
ward rose to fourteen hundred crowns. The contract 
granted by the late King was to be in force to the 
year 1793. Should the King buy in these shares, at a 
thousand crowns each, this would be unjust; since 
they have been purchased at fourteen hundred, on the 
faith of a contract of which seven years are unexpired. 
If he should pay interest for them, at the rate of eight 
per cent till the year 1793, he must then himself be- 
come a loser. Would it not have been better not to 
have made any change till the contract should expire 
of itself, or till he had found a proper substitute? 
The effects which are the representatives of the capi- 
tal, consist in utensils, warehouses, houses, carriages, 
etc., etc. These cannot all be sold without a loss, 
which must likewise fall on the King. The monopoly 
was burdened with pensions, bestowed on persons by 
whom they had been merited; or, if you please, ob- 
tained for that very affair which paid those pensions. 



242 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

They must hereafter be discharged by some other 
fund, etc. 

Heaven forbid I should pretend such difficulties 
ought not to be surmounted! Improvement would 
then be accomplished. But they ought to have been 
foreseen, which they have not ; so that the public only 
perceives, in this suppression, a real evil in return for 
an unasked good. This mania to undersell the smug- 
glers, or to destroy illicit trade, if great care be not 
taken, will be more injurious to the people than the 
trade itself was to the State. Opposition to contraband 
trade ought to be the consequence of one comprehen- 
sive system; and those are short-sighted views which 
endeavor to correct partial abuses, that appertain to 
the general vices of administration. The refining of 
sugar, the fabricating of arms, silk, gauze, stuffs, 
cloths, in a word, whatever relates to industry, all are 
directed by regulations destructive to commerce. But 
may all this vanish by a single act of volition? Im- 
possible; without producing convulsions in the State. 
And thus the truth and benevolence discredited, and 
kings discouraged. Woe to him wdio pulls down with- 
out precaution ! 

The principles of the two Kings, concerning their 
personal dignity, appear to be so different as to give 
room for reflection, relative to this country. When 
Frederick II. established the coffee monopoly, the 
citizens of Potsdam were daring enough to load a 
cart with coif eepots and coff eemills, to drive it through 
the town and overturn it into the river. Frederick, 
who was a spectator of this burlesque procession, 
opened his window and laughed heartily. Here we 
have an anecdote of him whom they call the Tiberius 
of Prussia. The following is another of the Prussian 
Titus : 

The day before yesterday, the clerk of a merchant. 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 243 

named Olier, was imprisoned; and he was not in- 
formed, till the morning after, that the cause of his 
imprisonment was some trifling speech relative to the 
King ; and that, should he commit a similar oflfense, the 
dungeon would give a good account of him ! Such are 
the first fruits of a gloomy internal administration, of 
which the vanity and poverty of mind of the King 
have been productive. What a foreboding of tyranny, 
— whether it be royal, or, which is worse, subaltern! 
Under what circumstances, and in what a country! 
There, where the master, whose vanity is so irascible, 
wishes to appear good ; and where there is no counter- 
poise to his power, in the public opinion ; for the public 
has no opinion ! 

The commission of inquiry, sitting on Launay, re- 
mains silent, retards its proceedings, forces or seeks 
for facts, and decides on nothing. Du Bosc is very 
industrious. Two merchants are arrived from each 
province, who are to give their advice, relative to the 
best manner of rendering trade flourishing. It is not 
yet known here that, though merchants only should 
be trusted with the execution of a commercial plan, 
they never should be consulted concerning a general 
system; because their views and their interests are 
always partial. One of them, however, has given ad- 
vice which is very sage, in the present state of afifairs ; 
and that is to forbid the silk manufactories, which 
are all on the royal establishment, to make any but 
plain silks. Should they determine so to do, the King 
of Prussia may supply Sweden, Poland, and a part of 
Russia. 

The Princess Elizabeth, the divorced consort of the 
King, has requested to have a place five miles from 
Berlin, and that his Majesty would appoint the ladies 
and gentlemen who shall be her attendants. It is sup- 
posed that the attempts this Princess makes have been 



244 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

suggested to her by an adroit and intriguing officer; 
but it is not she who will become formidable to the 
Queen, though I really dare not say so much for Ma- 
demoiselle Voss. What must be the destiny of a 
country which soon is to be divided among priests, 
mystics, and prostitutes ? 

In despite of all my diligence to divine what is in 
treaty with the Court of Vienna, I can only form con- 
jectures. However, when I reflect that the Prussian 
Ambassador to Austria is an incapable person. Count 
Podewils ; and that the Emperor's Ambassador, Prince 
Reuss has not altered his conduct; that Prince Henry, 
though generally ill-informed, would have some posi- 
tive intelligence, if anything positive had been done, 
and that he has only vague suspicion, — I scarcely can 
believe any important or probable revolution is on the 
tapis. Did the Prince (Henry) possess but one of the 
twenty wills of which he is composed, and which do 
not all form the equivalent of a whole, so that he could 
expend his money properly, and act with consistency, 
his superior information must give him a great ascen- 
dency in the Cabinet. 

But why do we not rid ourselves of this complica- 
tion of political affairs, by at once changing our 
foreign system, and breaking down the only opposing 
barrier? I mean to say, by respectable arrangements 
and sincere advances. Why do we not stifle commer- 
cial jealousy, that mother of national animosity, which 
has silenced good sense, and pompously predicted, 
supported by the sophisms of mercantile cupidity, that 
total ruin, whether it be for France or England, must 
be the result of the unfavorable balance to which a 
freedom of trade could not fail to give birth? Is it, 
then, so difficult to demonstrate that the trade of 
France might be much more advantageous to Great 
Britain than that of any other country, and vice versa ^ 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 245 

Who that will but open his eyes will not see the reason ? 
It is in the will of Nature, by which those monarchies 
are nearer each other than they are to other countries. 
The returns of the trade which might be carried on 
between the southern coast of England and northwest 
of France might take place five or six times a year, as 
in the more internal commerce. The capital employed 
in this trade might therefore, in both countries, be pro- 
ductive of five or six times its present quantity of 
industry, and might afford employment and subsistence 
to six times as many inhabitants as the same capital 
could effect in most other branches of foreign trade. 
Between those parts of France and Great Britain 
which are most distant from each other, the returns 
might at least be made once a year ; and would conse- 
quently be thrice as profitable as the trade, formerly 
so much vaunted, with North America; in which the 
returns usually took place only once in three, and very 
frequently only once in four or five years. The sage 
Smith asks, 'Tf we consider its population, wants, 
and wealth, is not France at least a market eight times 
more extensive (for England), and, by reason of its 
quick returns, twenty- four times more advantageous 
than ever was that of the English colonies of North 
America ?" It is not less, or rather, it is more evident 
that the trade with Great Britain would be in an equal 
degree useful to France, in proportion to the wealth, 
population, and proximity of the two countries. It 
would eventually have the same superiority over that 
which France has made with her colonies. Oh, human 
folly! What labors do we undertake to deprive our- 
selves of the benefits of Nature! How prodigious a 
difference between that trade which the politics of the 
two nations have thought it right to discourage, and 
that which has been the most favored ! It appears to 
me that a work which should develop these ideas, and 



246 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

which begin no longer to be thought monstrous by the 
Enghsh, would be very useful, and could not be in- 
trusted to a man of too great abilities. 

Postscript. — I have circumstantial evidence that 
the King is more than ever indolent. Letters are an- 
swered in eight or ten days, and in a more long and 
careful manner than under the late King; which suffi- 
ciently proves that secretaries have great interference. 
Yet what must we say of a Cabinet in which the King 
never acts, although it is impossible to cite any 
minister whose influence has effected such or such a 
thing? Even into the assembly of the general direc- 
tory, which sits twice a week, the King never comes. 
And this is the King who wishes to change the fiscal 
system ! None but a Hercules can cleanse the Augean 
stables. 



LETTER LI 

November 2W1, 1786. 
People are not agreed concerning the kind of services 
which the committee of merchants, convoked from the 
different provinces, may render Government. These 
good folks are highly astonished to hear themselves 
consulted on affairs of State; for there is as great a 
distance between them and Mont-Audouin and Pre- 
mores, as there is between the Prussian Ministers and 
our Sully and Colbert. The question should be to re- 
verse the general and fundamental system, and they 
seek only palliatives. The blood is infected, and instead 
of purifying it, they endeavor but to heal this or that 
ulcer. They will inflame the gangrene, and render 
the virus more envenomed. 

There are great disputes concerning the manufac- 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 247 

tures. But, good God ! ought they to begin with these ? 
And, should they well and clearly have determined 
which were necessary to preserve, and which to 
neglect, ought they not, before they prescribe rules, to 
assume as a datum — that Berlin is not a place for 
manufacturers ; because that the dearness of the labor, 
local, and national inconveniences, etc., etc., are there 
united; and because that the establishment of manu- 
factures must there become a disastrous extravagance ? 
for which reason the manufacturers themselves carry 
on a contraband trade, and sell French for Prussian 
stuffs. As they have no competitors, they affix what 
price they please on their merchandise ; and, as nothing 
is easier than to smuggle, they take a part of their 
goods to the fairs of Frankfort, which they sell or do 
not sell, as it shall happen, and purchase Lyons silks, 
to which they affix Berlin stamps, and enter them 
without any other precaution, or the least risk: since 
the customhouse officers of the barriers, who are in- 
valids either of the Court or army, cannot distinguish 
w^iether what is shown them is taffeta or satin; still 
less, whether it be w'oven at Lyons or Berlin. This 
city neither possesses industry, emulation, taste, 
genius, nor money, to effect such changes. Another 
age, and I know not how many transitions among the 
Germans, are necessary for them to imitate that luxury 
of embellishment for which they have the folly to 
wish. Incapable of choosing between that which is 
possible and proper, and that which is chimerical and 
injurious, without means, principles, or system, the 
present attempts of these men, to which they owe their 
ephemeral existence, will have no other effect than 
that of leading, the King first, and afterward the 
vulgar and the foolish, to believe that the evil is ir- 
reparable. 

The inheritance of the margraviate of Schwedt is 



248 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

an affair at this moment, which, in other hands, might 
have important consequences. The Margrave ap- 
proaches his end. After the partition of Poland, the 
late King wrote to his brother, Prince Henry, that he 
was desirous of bestowing on him a peculiar mark of 
his friendship and gratitude, for the service he had 
rendered the State. Frederick thought he should have 
rid himself of his promise by a statue; but he was 
privately given to understand that fame was left to the 
care of posterity, and that the present question was 
an increase of possession. A few months afterward, 
the Margrave of Schwedt, brother of the present 
Margrave died; the King seized the occasion to re- 
lease himself from his word. In a very authentic 
patent, and at a long term, he conferred on Prince 
Henry the reversion of the margraviate, on condition 
that he should discharge all the burdens with which 
this great fief is loaded. Frederick dies, and his succes- 
sor declares that all survivances, and donations in fu- 
turo, etc., are null, and that he will not confirm them. 
Prince Henry finds himself among the number of 
those on whom reversions were bestowed. There is 
little probability these lands will be given him. The 
question is, will he or will he not have any compensa- 
tion? 

Prince Henry certainly has pretenses to exclaim 
against ingratitude, and exclaim he will. There it will 
end. Melancholy mad at one moment, he will rave 
the next ; and thus, giving vent to his griefs, will save 
his life; for mute affliction only is dangerous. 

Those, however, who are not among his partisans, 
will observe this proceeding with the greatest in- 
quietude, because it begins to appear that even the 
personal promises of the King are susceptible of waver- 
ing. I spoke to you in one of my dispatches of 
the restitution of some hailliagcs to the Duke of 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 249 

Mecklenburg, which had been promised to the envoy 
of the Duke by the King himself. He has since with- 
drawn, or at least suspended, his promise. So much 
facility in departing from recent engagements, com- 
bined with the clamors of the people, and the exclusive 
contracts that are trodden under foot without pity, 
appear to be but ill omens. It has been inserted, for 
example, by command^ in the public papers, ''that the 
King declares to all the army clothiers that, from 
paternal motives," — all of which have been announced 
with emphasis, as you will see in every gazette, — ''the 
King annuls their contracts ; even those that have been 
recently confirmed." Which clause is the more 
gratuitously odious and absurd, as he had not con- 
firmed anyone; he therefore, need not have taken the 
trouble solemnly to inform his subjects that he knew 
very well how, when occasion should serve, solemnly 
to break his word. 

The King spoke to me yesterday concerning the 
woolen manufactory. I endeavored to make him 
understand that, before we pulled down our house, 
we should know where to find a lodging, or how we 
might dispose of the ruins. He answered me, laugh- 
ing, "Oh! Schmits is your banker." (He is the con- 
tractor for this manufactory.) "Very true, Sire," 
replied I ; "but he has not hitherto made me a present 
of the money which has been remitted le through his 
hands." This may show you what engines are set at 
work to keep me at a distance. The following is a 
more circumstantial proof: 

I was six days very ill, and did not make my appear- 
ance at Court, which I the less regretted because that 
nothing is learned in such grand company. The day 
before yesterday, the King said at his Lotto, "Where 
is the Comte de Mirabeau? It is an age since I saw 
him." "That is not astonishing. Sire," said one of the 



250 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

household. ''He passes his time at the house of 
Struensee, with Messrs. Biester and Nicolai." You 
must understand that Biester and Nicolai are two 
learned Germans, who have written much against 
Lavater and the mystics; that they never enter the 
house of, nor are they, as I believe, personally ac- 
quainted with, Struensee. The intention was to lead 
the King to suppose I was an anti-mystic. 

The appointment of Count Charles Briihl to the 
place of Governor of the Prince Royal has made the 
party more than ever triumphant. To the merit of 
appertaining to that honorable sect. Count Leppel, the 
most incapable and ridiculous of men, is indebted for 
his Swedish Embassy; as are Baron Doernberg for 
favors of every kind. Prince Frederick for his inti- 
macy, the Duke of Weimar, the brother of the Mar- 
grave of Baden, and the Prince of Dessau for their 
success, and the courtiers that surround the King for 
their influence and favor. • It looks like a tacit con- 
federacy, and that there is a determination to admit 
none but proved and fervent sectaries into adminis- 
tration. No one dares combat them; everybody bows 
before them. The slaves of the Court and the city, 
who were not the first to yield, mutter disapprobation, 
and, by degrees, w^ill range themselves on the side of 
the prevailing party. 

There is no parasite, however great, that attempts 
to excuse the prostitution of titles, patents of nobility, 
ribbons, academical places, and military promotions, 
which daily is aggravated. Seventeen majors, for ex- 
ample, have been made, merely in acquittal of vague 
and inconsiderate promises ; and that there may be the 
semblance of recollecting, at little expense, hopes 
that he had been given when every little aid was ac- 
ceptable. 

The King makes himself too public not to talk ver}'' 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 251 

idly. It would be better that, at the commencement of 
a reign, the Prussian Monarch should not find time 
daily to have a tiresome concert, or a more languid 
Lotto; especially when the world knows the nothings, 
or the worse, that employ his mornings. He more and 
more every day, constitutes himself the redresser of 
the wrongs committed by his uncle. Those colonels 
or generals that were dismissed return to the army 
with the promotions or appointments that recompense 
their sufferings. The counselors that formerly were 
degraded, concerning the affair of the miller Arnold, 
have been reinstated in their functions. To say the 
truth, their punishment was one of the most iniquitous 
of the acts of Frederick 11. But his principal victim, 
the Chancellor Fiirst, has hitherto been forgotten. 
His great age, indeed, will not permit him to occupy 
any post. But some solemn mark of good will, some 
flattering recompense of strict justice, while so many 
other recompenses are granted, which are favors that 
are often more than suspicious — would this be im- 
possible ? 

Under the late reign, the mines solely depended on 
the minister of that department. An arrangement has 
just been made, according to which four tribunals, 
erected in the provinces, greatly moderate his au- 
thority; and this was very necessary in a country 
where the public right of the mines was the most re- 
volting tyranny. But the arrangement does not an- 
nounce the disgrace of Heinitz. He has, on the con- 
trary, had several new departments committed to his 
charge within this fortnight; and particularly some 
that belonged to Schulemburg. It is a part of the plan 
to restore all things to the state in which they were 
left by Frederick William in 1740. This criticism on 
the last reign may be vengeance dearly purchased. At 
least it is necessary to be consistent; and, since the 



252 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

grand directory has been restored according to its first 
institution, it ought not to be left in indolence, and in 
a state of humiliating insufficiency. The dismission 
of the Minister Gaudi is reported, who is the man by 
whom Government might best profit, if he were em- 
ployed. This conspiracy against capacity and knowl- 
edge, with good reason, alarms those who know the 
persons that inspire predilection. 

If I am not mistaken, there is here, at this moment, 
an acquisition to be made, worthy of the King of 
France, and M. de Calonne is the very man who ought 
to lay the proposal before his Majesty. The illustrious 
La Grange, the greatest mathematician that has ap- 
peared since Newton, and who, by his understanding 
and genius, is the man in all Europe who has most 
astonished me ; La Grange, the most sage, and perhaps 
the only true practical philosopher that has ever 
existed; worthy to be commended for the pertinacious 
calmness of his mind, his manners, and his conduct; 
in a word, a man affectionately respected by the small 
number of men whom he would admit to be of his 
acquaintance; this La Grange has lived twenty years 
at Berlin, whither he was invited, in his youth by the 
late King, to succeed Euler, who had himself pointed 
him out as the only man proper to be his successor. 
He is much disgusted, silently but irremediably dis- 
gusted, because that his disgust originates in contempt. 
The passions, brutalities, and lunatic boastings of 
Hertzberg; the addition of so many as Academicians 
with whom La Grange cannot, without blushing, as- 
sociate; the very prudent dread of seeing himself held 
in painful suspense, between the philosophic repose 
which he regards as the first good, and that respect 
which he owes himself, and which he wnll not suffer to 
be insulted; all induce him to retire from a country 
where the crime of being a foreigner is not to be for- 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 253 

given, and where he will not support an existence 
which will only be tolerated. It cannot be doubted but 
that he would willingly exchange the sun and the coin 
of Prussia for the sun and the coin of France, the 
only country on earth where men pay homage to the 
genius of science, and confer lasting fame; the only 
country where La Grange, the grandson of a French- 
man, and who gratefully recollects that we have made 
him known to Europe, would delight to live, if he must 
renounce his old friends and the abode of his youth. 
Prince Cardito di Laffredo, Ambassador from Naples 
to Copenhagen, has made him the handsomest offers, 
in the name of his Sovereign. He has received press- 
ing invitations from the Grand Duke and the King of 
Sardinia. But all these proposals would easily be 
forgotten, if put in competition with ours. And will 
not the King of France likewise, aided by a worthy 
comptroller general, at the time when he would extend 
that empire of benevolence which appertains to him 
alone — would not the King of France endeavor to ac- 
quire a man whose merit is known to all Europe ? La 
Grange here receives a pension of six thousand livres. 
And cannot the King of France dedicate that sum to 
the first mathematician of the age? Is it beneath 
Louis XVI. to invite a great man, from a miserable 
academy, who is there misunderstood, misallied, and 
thus, by the most noble warfare, to extirpate the only 
literary corps that has wrestled against his proper 
academies? Would not this act of generosity be 
superior to those that are usually performed? France, 
with pernicious policy, has been the asylum of 
Princes, with whose necessities she was burdened. 
Why will she not welcome a great man who would 
but add to her worth ? Has she so long enriched others 
with her losses, and will she not enrich herself by 
others' errors ? In fine, to speak of the Minister I love, 



254 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

one De Boynes has given eighteen thousand livres a 
year, for a useless place, to one Boscovich, — a man de- 
spised by all the learned of Europe, as a literary quack 
of poor abilities; and why will not M. de Calonne 
grant a pension of two thousand crowns to the first 
man in Europe of his class, and probably to the last 
genius the mathematical sciences shall possess; the 
passion for which diminishes, because of the excessive 
difficulties that are to be surmounted, and the infinitely 
few means of acquiring fame by discovery? 

I 'have the hope exceedingly at heart, because I think 
it a noble one, and because I tenderly love the man. I 
entreat I may have an immediate answer ; for I own I 
have induced M. de la Grange to suspend his declara- 
tions on the propositions that have been made him, 
till he has heard what ours may be. I need not repeat 
that — he whose hands are tied must call for help. 



LETTER LII 

December 2d, 1786. 
On the 29th, between one and two o'clock, a person 
from Courland came to me and asked for the Baron 
de Nolde. He said he was charged with some secret 
commission, and delivered him a letter from M. Rum- 
mel, his brother-in-law, a Syndic of the nobility, and 
fifty Prussian gold Fredericks. The letter desired 
Nolde would give faith to what the bearer should re- 
late, and informed him that the regency of the Repub- 
lic intended to confer on him the place of assessor, if 
he would repair to Courland that he might be put in 
nomination ; and that the appointment was to be made 
at the beginning of the year. The bearer of the letter 
said he had known the Baron Nolde' when a boy. The 
Baron supposed him to be an advocate, or a notary, 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 255 

of whom he had some confused idea. He neither told 
his name, where he lodged, how he traveled, when he 
came to Berlin, nor where he was going. Hamburg, 
Liibeck, Vienna, Munich, etc., are places through 
which he has passed, or means to pass. His journey 
has been very secret, very enigmatical, very mysteri- 
ous. He only gave it to be understood that great 
changes would soon be seen in Courland, and that 
Woronzow was there to enact a grand part, of which 
he spoke so as to make it suspected he might become 
Duke. Such are the chief points of this odd interview. 

We must combine this with the return of the Duke, 
who arrived three days ago, and with innumerable in- 
dications which demonstrate that a revolution is either 
in agitation or preparing in Courland. Consternation 
has seized on the Duke. It is only whispered, but it 
appears evident that the States have stopped the pay- 
ment of his revenues, because he does not expand the 
money in the country; and this is the least of the 
griefs, entertained at Petersburg, against this detested 
man. Certain it is that he has sent his wife, who is 
far advanced in her pregnancy, to Mittau, whither he 
dares not return himself ; hoping she shall be delivered 
of a male child, and that this presumptive heir will 
reconcile him to his country. 

Add, further, that Baron Nolde is of one of the first 
houses of Courland; that his uncle, the Chamberlain 
Howen, a capable and enterprising man, is at present 
first Minister or Land Marshal; that all affairs pass 
through his hands, and that he is in the greatest credit ; 
which, to say truth, may be reduced to this : that he has 
the power of selling, with more or less meanness, this 
fine but unfortunate province; which, however, should 
it be abandoned by all its neighbors, cannot act other- 
wise than to bestow, rather than suffer itself to be 
seized upon. It is very possible that the family of 



256 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

Nolde, which knows how much this studious young" 
Baron has continually preferred a civil to a military 
life, has only thought of placing- him advantageously. 
(The post of assessor, which is worth from four to 
five thousand livres of Courland, per annum, is the 
post of preferment.) But it is equally possible, and, 
all circumstances considered, very probable, that his 
assistance is wished for in effecting a revolution. 

This young Baron is possessed of honor, informa- 
tion, and understanding; has a great respect for the 
rights of mankind, an utter hatred for the Russians, 
and an ardent desire his country should rather apper- 
tain to any other Power. From his infancy the sport 
of chance, ruined by misfortunes of every kind, which 
all had a worthy origin; disgusted with the gloomy 
rank of subaltern officer, which impedes the progress 
of his studies, and moderate in his desires, he would 
accept a place which should bestow on him the otiiim 
cum dignitate; but he would not be the slave of Rus- 
sia. He loves France, and is attached to me, to whom 
he thinks himself obliged. He is desirous of serving 
his country, the Cabinet of Versailles, and his friend. 
The indecision of his mind must have been afflicting, 
especially under circumstances when, laboring for 
these six months like a galley slave, and certainly in 
a manner more useful than had he been mounting 
guard, you have even neglected to prolong his fur- 
lough. This, at least, was perplexing. I have de- 
cided for him. 

Making myself responsible for this prolongation, 
which it would be so iniquitous to refuse, and which 
surely will be granted if it be only out of respect to 
me, who find his coadjutorship necessary; imagining 
he still has the right of returning into Courland by 
throwing up his commission, or even without throw- 
ing it up, by suffering another nomination to take 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 257 

place; convinced that no one can inform us more 
exactly of the situation of the country in which he has 
so many relations ; persuaded that this is an important 
step for several reasons, the principal of which I shall 
presently demonstrate, and not believing (independent 
of the expense of a journey of more than four hun- 
dred leagues) that I should be justified in absenting 
myself without having received express orders; con- 
fiding in the honor of this affectionate young gentle- 
man, as well because of the recommendations of those 
to whom he is intimately known, as from having my- 
self proved his principles and his conduct; and still 
farther convinced that confidence is the most power- 
ful of motives with men of honor, — I have thought 
it the most prudent mode to suffer him immediately 
to depart on his promise of sending me information 
of whatever passes, and of returning to Berlin within 
two months. It has seemed to me that this will con- 
ciliate his interest and ours, — the latter because we 
shall be perfectly informed of whatever we wish to 
know concerning Courland, of which many things 
are to be learned, and by which step, at all events, we 
shall make a party in the country, where the simple 
title of consul, or the permission only of wearing our 
uniform, with a small pension, will secure to us a man 
of merit, should he determine to accept the offers of 
the regency; first, because Baron Nolde will inform 
himself, by this journey, what is the degree of stabil- 
ity and profit of the place they propose for him, and 
because, if he be not satisfied with this, he may again 
return to the service of France, with the recommenda- 
tion of additional labors and strong zeal in her behalf; 
and, should he be satisfied with the offers of Courland, 
he may accept them, while we may better his situation 
and augment his respect and safety, by suffering him 
to wear our uniform, etc., etc. 



258 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

Summarily, this young gentleman, who has served 
at the sieges of Port-Mahon and Gibraltar; who is 
esteemed and beloved by his commanders ; who for six 
months has labored, under my direction, with uncom- 
mon zeal, and assiduity not less uncommon ; I repeat, 
this gentleman would certainly merit such a mark of 
favor, though it had been on his own business solely 
that he had made a journey into Courland. But the 
truth is I send him thither because I am strongly in- 
vited by circumstances, and am convinced of two 
things. First, that were it only perfectly to under- 
stand this part of the politics of Russia, it is of im- 
portance to us at once to know at what to estimate 
the worth and destiny, as well as the changes of which 
this country is susceptible ; which, independent of all 
interior circumstances, stands by situation the sen- 
tinel of Poland and of the Baltic, now that Sweden, 
our arm of the north, is so seriously menaced. My 
second conviction is that Baron Nolde is the most 
proper of men faithfully to send us this information. 
Wherefore not afford him aid? Wherefore not pre- 
serve such persons? 

You must have seen, but perhaps you have not re- 
marked, in the thirty-second abstract from the gazettes, 
that Springporten, formerly a colonel in the service of 
Sweden, has lately entered into the service of Russia, 
with the rank of major general; that he is the man 
who best knows Finland ; that the Empress has granted 
him three thousand roubles for his equipment, an 
estate of six hundred peasants, in White Russia, and 
the key of chamberlain ; that he is incessantly to make 
a journey into the Crimea, etc., etc. Though by ac- 
quiring such men, with the knowledge and connections 
which they bring w^ith them, preparations are made 
for the execution of the greatest projects, still, by the 
same methods, such projects are rendered abortive. 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 259 

There was not time, last post, to write the post- 
script in cipher, which contains a curious fact, of which 
Panchand will probably make use and application. 

I informed you in No. VI. that " they have lately 
interdicted discounting bills of exchange at the bank, 
etc." This fact has not been verified. The merchants 
indeed required it might be done, but their request has 
not been granted, and it was opposed by Struensee. 
But to the news of the day. 

There are two versions concerning Mademoiselle 
Voss. Both are derived from excellent sources, and 
probably the real one will be that which may be com- 
posed from the two. 

1. There will be no marriage. Mademoiselle will 
depart in a month, for I know not where; and after- 
ward will return to Potsdam. " I know," said she, 
" that I dishonor myself. All the compensation I ask 
is not to see any person; leave me in profound soli- 
tude; I neither wish for riches nor splendor." It is 
certain that, if she can keep him thus, she will lead 
him much the farther. 

2. Wednesday, the 22d of last month, was the re- 
markable day on which Mademoiselle Voss accepted 
the King's hand, and promised him her own. It was 
determined the Queen should be brought to approve 
the plan of the left-handed marriage as a thing of 
necessity, should she obstinately display too much re- 
pugnance. It is singular that, for the consummation 
of this rare business, the arrival of the Duke of Saxe- 
Weimar was waited for, who is the brother-in-law of 
the Queen. The King thus will be father to four sorts 
of children. The priests, who have been consulted 
on the manner of reconciling the claims of heaven 
with the pleasures of earth, have decided that it will 
be better to concentrate his enjoyments by an extraor- 
dinary marriage than incessantly to wander from er- 

9 — Memoirs Vol. 5 



26o MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

ror to error. Nothing has transpired concerning the 
manner in which this arrangement is to be made 
known to the uncles; of the name the new Princess is 
to bear; or of her future estabHshment, etc., etc. In 
all probability she soon will interfere in public affairs; 
and, should she do so, the credit of Bishopswerder will 
diminish. She loves neither him nor his daughters. 
Her party is, besides, very opposite to that of the 
mystics, which gains ground in a very fearful manner. 
I am going to relate a recent anecdote on that subject 
which happened in the last months of Frederick II., 
and which it is infinitely important, at least for my 
security while I remain here, to keep secret; of the 
irrevocable authenticity of which you yourself will 
judge; and which will show you whither tends this 
imaginary theory of the mystics connected with the 
Rosicrucian-Freemasons, whom among us some look 
upon with pity, and others treat as objects of amuse- 
ment. 

There is a rumor whispered about which terrifies 
worthy people, and which, true or false, is a faithful 
indication of the public opinion. It is affirmed that 
Prince Henry, the Duke of Brunswick, and General 
Moellendorf, mean to quit the army. The two first 
probably do not yet think of such a step; but the latter 
is indubitably the most discontented of the three. 
Rich, loyal, simple, firm, he possesses virtues which 
would do honor to a soil on which virtue is more fruit- 
ful. He certainly has not been treated either as he 
himself expected, or as good citizens have wished. 
They were desirous, indeed, to create him a count; 
but among so many counts, what need had he of such 
a title? For which reason this respectable man re- 
plied, "What have i done?" This artless, noble 
question was too severe — on the herd of nobles and 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 261 

the multitude of titles that have sprung up, warmed 
by the breath of royal munificence — to be agreeable. 
His modest and antique manners are become reproach- 
ful to the Court; yet is the only reform truly beneficial 
and universally approved, under the new reign, the 
work of this general. I mean the abolition of that 
iniquitous contribution called grass forage, which 
subjected the open country to pillage, during three 
months of the year, under the pretense of accustoming 
the cavalry to forage. He has not since been consulted 
on any subject, or he has had no influence. I should 
not be surprised should he retire to his country seat; 
and it is impossible to exaggerate the unamiable light 
in which such a tacit profession of faith would place 
the King and his Government. 

Three months more of similar proceedings, and he 
will have no respect to lose, — at least, in his own coun- 
try. Every corrupt symptom is manifest. Rietz, a 
rascal, avaricious, chief pimp, and an avowed Giton, 
insomuch that ipse conHtetur, sibi cum Rege, dum prin- 
ceps Borussice esset, apud eius aniicam stupri comnier- 
cium fiiisse. In a word, Rietz, the vilest and the most 
debased of men, manages the royal household, and 
enjoys a great part of the Court favor. Here it ought 
to be noted that he is very susceptible of being bought; 
but he must be dearly bribed, for he is covetous and 
prodigal, and his fortune is to make, should ever 
France have occasion to direct the Cabinet of Berlin. 
So long as the King shall have any power, Rietz and 
Prince Frederick of Brunswick are the two men most 
liable to temptation. 

The following is an anecdote of a very low species, 
but very characteristic for those who know the coun- 
try. The Italian and French dancers have received 
orders to dance twice a week, at the German theater. 
The purport of such a capricious injunction was to 



262 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF) 

give disgust to this species of people, who are expen- 
sive enough, and to find a pretense for dismissing 
them. They have been well advised, and will dance; 
but such is the low spirit of cunning which presides 
over the administration. Politics are treated as wisely 
as theatrical matters. 

I this moment learned that Heinitz, one of the Min- 
isters of State, a man of mediocrity, but laborious, has 
written a letter to the King, of which the following is 
nearly the sense : " Being a foreigner, not possessed 
of any lands in your States, my zeal cannot be sus- 
pected by your Majesty. It is consequently my duty 
to inform you that the projected capitation tax will 
alienate the hearts of Your Majesty's subjects; and 
proves that the new regulators of the finances are, at 
present, little versed in public business." The King 
said to him two days after, " I thank you," and made 
no further inquiries. Irresolution does not exclude 
obstinacy, although obstinacy is far from being reso- 
lution. I should not be astonished were the tobacco 
and snuff company to remain on its former footing. 
As for the respect which government should preserve, 
that must take care of itself. 

It was an attempt similar to that of Heinitz which 
produced the last military promotion, to the disadvan- 
tage of General Moellendorf. The General wrote, 
with respectful but firm dignity, against the nomina- 
tion of Count Briihl, and entreated the King would 
show less indifference for the army. Thanks were 
returned, accompanied with these words : " The place 
has been promised a year and a half" ; and two days 
after seventeen majors were created. Since this time, 
coldness toward the General has increased, and civil- 
ity has been substituted for confidence. The letter is 
not thought well of. It is said that he ought to have 
reserved this vigorous blow for some occasion on 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 263 

which he should not appear to be personally inter- 
ested ; and it is he himself who seemed most proper 
to fill the place of governor. 

The Duke of Weimar is preparing to make a very 
pompous wolf hunt, on the frontiers of Poland. The 
orders and adjustments for this party of pleasure do 
not very well agree with the projects and ceremonials 
of economy. Twelve hundred peasants are com- 
manded to be in readiness ; sixty horses have been sent, 
and eight baggage wagons, with the masters of the 
forests, gentlemen, huntsmen, and cooks for this hunt, 
which is to continue six days. 

At present, I am nearly certain that my second ver- 
sion, relative to Mademoiselle Voss, is the true one; 
and that the Queen is coaxed into the measure. The 
King never lived on better terms with her. He has 
often visited her within this week, pays her debts, and 
has given her a concert. Probably she has made a 
virtue of necessity. It appears evident that this con- 
nection of the King highly deranges the plan of the 
mystic administrators. The family of Mademoiselle 
Voss wishes to profit by her elevation; and their ad- 
vice no way agrees with that of the present favorites. 
Bishopswerder, far from gaining upon the King, de- 
clines in his esteem. In a word, revolution may come 
from that side. Will public affairs be the gainer? 
This question it is impossible to answer. We can only 
turn the telescope toward the spot; or rather the 
microscope; for, in truth, we are in the reign and the 
country of the infinitely minute. 

[Postscript, mentioned in the body of the letter.] 

The current coins in Poland were formerly as fol- 
lows: The mark of fine silver of the Cologne weight 
was coined at 13-3 r. or 80 fl. of Poland. 



264 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

As to gold coins, there were none but Dutch ducats 
that had any nominal value; that is to say 

At the royal treasuries, they were taken for i6% k. 

By the public, for i8 k. ; both of which rates were 
fixed by decrees of the Diet. 

In the Diet of 1786, the ducats were universally 
raised to 18 k. each. 

The assay of the silver consequently cannot any 
longer be maintained; and it is affirmed there is a 
determination, hereafter, to coin the fine mark at 14 
r. or 84 fl. 

But neither can this coinage support itself; for, 
should Berlin coin at 14 r., Poland will be obliged to 
keep up an equal value at a greater expense, because 
of carriage. 

Under the present circumstances, it might be advan- 
tageous to draw on Poland for ducats at 3 r. if the 
assay of silver is at 14 r. 

But, if the relative value of gold should fall, com- 
paratively to that of silver, silver may be there bought 
with profit. 

Generally speaking, it appears to me that the recent 
operations on gold should lead us to reflect on the 
state of the silver, especially in Spain, should that 
power persist in the folly which, with the greatest 
part of Europe, it has given into, of keeping two 
species of coin, and hoarding the gold. 

Second Postscript. — The King, attended by a sin- 
gle lackey and much disguised, has been to the corn 
and straw warehouses, where he inquired of the sol- 
diers who worked there what their wages were. "Five 
groschen." A moment after he put the same question 
to the superintendents. '' Six groschen." Three sol- 
diers being called to confront the superintendents, and 
the fraud being proved, a subaltern and three soldiers 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 265 

were ordered to conduct the two superintendents to 
Spandau, a civil prison ; and there they are to be tried. 
The fact is very praiseworthy. He makes evening 
peregrinations ahnost unattended, and addicts himself 
to the minute inquiries of a justice of the peace. At 
least this is the third time he has acted thus. Some of 
his attendants imagine he means to imitate the Em- 
peror. After what has passed between them, this 
perhaps would be the most severe symptom of absolute 
incapacity. 



LETTER LIII 

December sth, 1786. 
The news of the cabals, which the Emperor again 
wishes to excite at Deux-Ponts, and which our 
Cabinet has published here, seem to have produced a 
very good effect upon the King, in despite of those 
who exclaim, Ne crede Teucris — an adage which is 
become the signal of rallying among the English, 
Dutch, anti-French, etc., etc. May we conduct our- 
selves so as never to admit of any other reproach. 
This discovery will probably, both at Berlin and Deux- 
Ponts, counteract the Emperor. It was very ill-judged 
of him not to suffer that torpor to increase, which is 
the infallible consequence of the languor of labor, or 
of the confusion which doing nothing produces. 

But I resign these foreign politics to your ambassa- 
dors, to whom they are known, because I gained this 
intelligence by that means only by which I gain all 
other; because Comte d'Esterno did not say a word 
on the subject to me ; because it would have been weak 
and little decent to have put many questions on a 
matter which I ought to have known; and because I, 



1266 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

therefore, satisfied myself with vague annotations on 
our fideHty. I am not, and probably shall not be, cir- 
cumstantially informed of the affair. You, perhaps, 
may feel on this occasion how important it is that bet- 
ter intelligence should be sent me from Versailles; 
but you will doubtless acknowledge I perform all I 
can, all I ought, when I trace the outlines of internal 
• — since I have not the key to external — politics; 
though assuredly I shall not neglect the latter when- 
ever lucky chance shall afford opportunities. 

The libellist Crantz, who was expelled the country 
by Frederick II. for theft, and for having sold the 
same horse three times, is recalled, with a pension of 
eight hundred crowns. The King wrote to Count 
Hertzberg to give him some post. The Minister re- 
plied that the abilities of the gentleman were great, 
and that he was very estimable, but that he had too 
little discretion to be employed in foreign affairs. The 
King proposed him to the Minister Werder, who 
answered, the gentleman was exceedingly intelligent, 
exceedingly capable, but that there was money in his 
office, which, therefore, M. Crantz must not be suf- 
fered to enter. At last, the King has thrown the illus- 
trious Crantz, praised by all and by all rejected, upon 
the States; and he receives a pension of eight hundred 
crowns for doing nothing. 

The Minister Schulemburg, after having twice de- 
manded his dismissal, has finally obtained it, without a 
pension. This is severe ; but the ex-Minister is adroit. 
He has cast all the burden upon the first branch of his 
department, which has been retrenched. If there are 
any means of being restored, this was well done. You 
are acquainted with the qualities of this man. He 
had understanding, facility, and sagacity in the choice 
of his coadjutors; was indifferent concerning the 
means he employed; vain in prosperity; despairing in 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 2(^7 

misfortune, of which his feelings are the sport; ready 
to serve others; susceptible of affection, and believing 
in friendship after having been fifteen years Minister 
of Frederick 11. He thought himself immovable be- 
cause he was necessary, and hopes that this necessity 
will surmount the cabals by which he has been driven 
from his post. Perhaps he deceives himself; for, 
while we are not difficult in our choice, and when the 
business is not of itself beyond vulgar capacities, 
agents may at any time be found. If monarchs wish 
for a Newton, they certainly must employ a Newton, 
or the place must remain vacant. But who is there 
who does not think himself capable of being a minis- 
ter, and of whom may it be demonstrated he is not 
capable ? 

I am assured, from a good quarter, that Count 
Hertzberg regains confidence. He has bowed to the 
new agents, who have had the weakness to bring him 
again into favor because Mademoiselle Voss is the 
niece of Count Finckenstein, and because, her family 
being unable to obtain any advantage by her promo- 
tion except by the overthrow of those who surround 
the King, who are not ignorant that the lady detests 
them, it is requisite some one should be opposed to her. 
But, if she be a dame of mettle, change must be looked 
for on that side, which more or less address will hasten 
or retard. Whether or no, Hertzberg has advised 
Count Goertz to take part with Renneval, of whose 
prudence he has spoken in the highest terms to the 
King. 

A new blunder has been committed in the military. 
All the first lieutenants have been made captains; and 
the captains, whether on whole or half pay, of the 
regiment of guards, are advanced to the rank of ma- 
jor. Except the war chancery, I do not see who will 
be the gainer by this arrangement. It is said the King 



268 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

intends to pay his personal debts, the payment of 
which, by the way of parenthesis, is more than ever 
eluded, with the produce of the commissions of offi- 
cers, and the diplomas of counts, barons, chamber- 
lains, etc. 

The plan for the capitation tax was represented to 
the King as a kind of voluntary act, and which the 
people themselves would meet half way; but informed 
lof the public disgust this project had occasioned, 
alarmed by the rumor, and heated by the letter of 
Heinitz, he told Werder, " People ought not to meddle 
with matters they do not understand." (Take good 
note that this be said to his Minister of Finance). 
" Launay should have been consulted " (now under 
the fetters of the commission of inquiry). Werder 
excused himself in the best manner he could, by say- 
ing the plan did not originate with him (in fact, the 
project was Beyer's), as if he had not appropriated 
by approving it. 

The general directory, that species of Council of 
State at which the King is never present, has projected 
remonstrances concerning the humiliating inactivity 
in which it is held; but Welner opposed them, giving 
the invincible repugnance of his Majesty for every 
species of advice to be understood. This arises from 
the strange supposition that those who give him advice 
have adopted the sentiments of his uncle, relative to 
his capacity. He is yet to learn that no one ventures 
to advise among the great, except such persons as 
they esteem. 

In the meantime the mystics continue in the same 
degree of favor. Their conspiracy was denounced 
by the great person whom I spoke of to you in my 
last, to General Moellendorf, the intimate friend of 
the brother of Mademoiselle Voss (a man esteemed 
for his moral character; in other respects obscure, at 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 269 

least hitherto, yet who probably will soon appear upon 
the stage), in order that he might terrify his sister, 
and by her intervention the Sovereign, concerning the 
crimes of a sect#who would sacrifice all whom they 
cannot rule. Blester — the same, to say the least, to 
whom it has been insinuated that he should spare the 
mystics — has a lawsuit in which they are interested, 
which it is said he will lose. He has accused M. Starck 
of being a Catholic. Starck is a Professor of Jena, 
a man celebrated for the gift of persuasion, as well 
as for his understanding and knowledge, a Lutheran 
born, and a Lutheran minister, but a known professor 
of the Catholic religion. He has, notwithstanding, 
instituted a criminal action against Blester, for having 
said this, and has summoned him to prove his calum- 
nious assertion. Never would such a suit have been 
heard of under Frederick H. Starck has recently 
published a book entitled " Nicaise," in which he at- 
tacks Freemasonry. The Freemasons have replied by 
another, entitled " Anti-Nicaise," in which are in- 
serted authentic letters from several princes, and, 
among others, from Prince Charles of Hesse Cassel, 
and Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick ; which well prove, 
what all know who have conversed with him, should 
they not likewise know his creatures, Bauer and Wet- 
sail, that a great general, or rather a famous general, 
may be a very little man. 

The statement of the expense is at length made out, 
and the result is that the King may increase his treas- 
ury by two millions of crowns, and still reserve a con- 
siderable sum for his pleasures or his affections. But, 
in this calculation, it is supposed that following re- 
ceipts will equal the preceding, which certainly is 
doubtful. One paternal act has been performed; the 
country people have been freed from the obligation of 
lodging the cavalry gratis, and supplying forage at 



270 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

a very low price. This reform will cost the King two 
hundred and seventy thousand crowns per annum. 
But it was extremely necessary. It is the result of 
the plan of Moellendorf for the abolition of the green 

FORAGE. 

One M. Moulines is the editor of the manuscripts of 
the late King. I have before given you his political 
character; and, as a literary man, he is destitute of 
taste and discernment, and without any profound 
knowledge of the language. But he is the friend of 
Welner; of that Welner to whom the King, at seven 
o'clock in the morning, sends the letters and requests 
of the day before, and who at four o'clock goes to give 
his account, or rather to instruct the King. As for 
the Ministers, they receive orders, and do not give 
advice. Welner has had the wit to refuse the title of 
Minister, and to satisfy himself with that of superin- 
tendent of the buildings ; but he is already fawned upon 
by the whole Court. These manuscripts are to be 
printed in eighteen volumes octavo. The two parts 
most curious are the "History of the Seven Years' 
War," and the "Memoirs of My Own Times." In 
the former, Frederick has rather recounted what he 
ought to have done than what he did ; and this is itself 
a trait of genius. He praises or excuses almost every- 
body; and blames only himself. 

The Marquis of Lucchesini, who had been, not the 
friend, not the favorite of Frederick, but his listener, 
is, though he does not own it, highly piqued at the 
choice made of Moulines. He has demanded leave of 
absence for six months, to make a journey into his 
own country, from which, no doubt, he will no more 
return. How did it happen that he did not feel that 
the personal respect in which he would have been held 
would have been immense had he quitted Prussia a 
week after the death of the King, with this only reply 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 271 

to all the offers which would have been made him? — 
'T was ambitious only of a place which all the Kings on 
earth could not take from me, cannot restore; that of 
being the friend of Frederick II." 

Two successors have been appointed to Count Schu- 
lemburg; for, as the King of France has four Minis- 
ters, twenty are necessary to the King of Prussia. 
One of these successors is M. Moschwitz, a magistrate ; 
of whom neither good nor harm is spoken. The other 
is a Count Schulemburg von Blumbert, the son-in-law 
of Count Finckenstein. The latter possesses knowl- 
edge, an ardent and gloomy ambition, and a moral 
character that is suspected. He is studious, intelligent, 
assiduous, and is certainly a capable man. But he is 
supposed to want order; to possess rather a heated 
brain than an active mind ; and to have more opinions 
of his own than dexterity to blend them with the 
opinions of others and render them successful. 
Neither is he at all accustomed to business; and is an 
absolute stranger to banking and commercial specula- 
tions, that is to say, to the principal branches of his 
department. 

First Postscript. — The King, who is paying off 
the debts of his father, has granted twenty thousand 
crowns for the maintenance and privy purse of his two 
eldest sons. Their household is a separate expense. 

Second Postscript. — I did not believe I was so 
good a prophet. The brother of Mademoiselle Voss 
has the place of the President Moschwitz. This is 
the foot in the stirrup. 

The course of exchange on Amsterdam is so exceed- 
ingly high that, there being no operation of finance or 
of commerce by which it may be accounted for, I have 
no doubt but remittances are made to pay off the 



2^2 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

personal debts of the King. Struensee is of the same 
opinion ; but he has no positive inteUigence on the sub- 
ject. 



LETTER LIV 

December Sth, 1786. 
You may take it for granted that there are three prin- 
cipal shades in the character of the King — deceit, 
which he believes to be art ; irascible vanity, whenever 
the least remonstrance is made to him ; and the accumu- 
lation of money, which is not so much avarice in him 
as the passion of possessing. The first of these vices 
has rendered him suspicious; for he who deceives by 
system continually imagines he is deceived. The 
second induces him to prefer people of middling, or in- 
ferior abilities ; and the latter contributes to make him 
lead an obscure and solitary life, by which the two 
former are strengthened. Violent in private, impene- 
trable in public, little animated by the love of fame in 
reality, and making this love to consist chiefly in lead- 
ing the world to suppose he is not governed; rarely 
troubling himself with foreign politics; a soldier from 
necessity, and not from inclination; disposed to favor 
the mystics, not from conviction, but because he be- 
lieves he shall, by their aid, examine the consciences 
and penetrate the hearts of men — such is the outline 
of the man. 

His debts will be paid by the surplus money. Under 
the late King there was annually a considerable sum 
which was not brought to the Treasury, but was kept 
apart to raise new regiments, to increase the artillery, 
or to repair the fortresses. Now, as the artillery was 
not increased, as new regiments were not raised, and 
as the fortresses were not repaired, the money con- 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 273 

sequently accumulated. It is now employed in liquida- 
tion. 

The revenues are upward of twenty-seven millions 
of crowns, including the customs ; or about a hundred 
and eight millions of French livres. The expense of 
the army is twelve millions and a half of crowns; 
of the civil administration, two millions three hundred 
thousand crowns ; of the King's, the Queen's, and the 
Princes' household, one million two hundred thousand 
crowns; and a hundred and thirty thousand for the 
payment of pensions. I am not acquainted with all the 
inferior expenses; but when, for example, we know 
that the legation chest does not absorb more than 
seventy-five thousand crowns, and that the supple- 
ments amount on an average to twenty-five thousand 
crowns (on which I have to remark that the same ob- 
ject in Denmark costs three millions of crowns; and 
in Russia, a country almost unknown to the greatest 
part of Europe, three hundred thousand rubles), it is 
easy to understand that the sum total of the annual 
surplus, the expense being deducted from the receipt, 
is about three millions and a half of crowns. 

The manufacturers have presented a petition, in 
which they supplicate to be informed whether any 
alterations are intended to be made in the privileges 
granted them by the late King, or his predecessors, 
that they may not be exposed to the buying of ma- 
terials, or contracting agreements which they shall be 
unable to fulfill. Frederick William has given his 
word of honor not to make any change, at present, of 
this kind. 

I have already said that the King intended to have 
made Welner a Minister, which dignity it is affirmed 
he refused. This for many reasons was a master 
stroke, by which he will be no loser ; for he has lately 
been granted an augmentation of three thousand 



274 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

crowns, that he may enjoy the same pension as the 
Ministers of State. The King not only places no 
confidence in the latter, but he affects never to mention 
them, unless it be to Count Finckenstein, the uncle of 
the well-beloved; or to Count Arnim, who interferes in 
the negotiations of the so much desired marriage, and 
who is at present too much a stranger to business to 
be suspected of any system. The supposition that he 
has one will, at least for some time, be the rock on 
which the new Schulemburg is liable to be wrecked. 
He is supported by strength of character and ardor of 
ambition. As to the new President, to whom already 
is attributed a depth of design which probably he 
never possessed, I believe him little capable of enact- 
ing any great part. 

The Sieur du Bosc, who is become a counselor of 
finance and of commerce, is also desirous of making 
his entrance. He has petitioned to be employed in 
the customs, and his request has been granted, but 
without an increase of respect. Speculators, joining 
this symptom to some others, have drawn a conclusion 
that this is some diminution in the credit of Bishops- 
werder, his protector. The party of the mystics, how- 
ever, does but augment and flourish. To own the 
truth, the crowd of candidates may injure individuals. 
One of the most zealous members, Drenthal, is lately 
arrived. No office was found for him under the King ; 
but he has in his interim been placed with the Princess 
Amelia, in quality of Marshal of the Court, with a 
promise of not being forgotten at the death of this 
Princess, whose end approaches. 

Our knowledge of the new Sovereign may be in- 
creased by a sketch of the most distinguished people 
at his Court. Among these are an old count (Len- 
dorf), gentle as Philinta, obliging as Bonneau, a 
shameless flatterer, an unfaithful talebearer, and, 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 275 

when need is, a calumniator. A prince in his pupilage 
(Holsteinbeck), smoking his pipe, drinking brandy, 
never knowing what he says, ever talking on what he 
does not understand, ready at any time to fly to the 
parade, to hunt, to go to church, to go to brothels, or 
to go to supper with a lieutenant, a lackey, or Madame 
Rietz. Another prince (Frederick of Brunswick), 
famous for the pains he took to dishonor his sister, 
and particularly his brother-in-law, the present King; 
a libertine under the Monarch who was called an 
atheist; at present a mystic, when the Monarch is 
supposed a devotee; a pensioner of the Freemason 
lodges, from which he annually receives six thousand 
crowns; talking nonsense from system; and, for the 
secrets which he wrests, returning a multitude of half 
secrets, which are partly invented, and partly useless. 
A kind of mad captain (Grothaus), who has seen all, 
had all, done all, known all ; the intimate friend of the 
Prince of Wales ; the favorite of the King of England, 
invited by Congress to be their president, on condition 
of conquering Canada; master at pleasure of the Cape 
of Good Hope; the only man capable of settling the 
affairs of Holland; an author, a dancer, a runner, a 
jumper, a farmer, botanist, physician, chemist, and 
lieutenant colonel in the Prussian service, with an in- 
come of seven hundred crowns per annum. A minis- 
ter (Count Arnim), who dreams instead of thinking, 
smiles instead of replying, reasons instead of deter- 
mining, regrets at night the liberty he sacrificed in the 
morning, and wishes at once to remain indolent on his 
estate, and to acquire the reputation of a minister. A 
reigning prince (the Duke of Weimar), who imagines 
he has wit because he can interpret a rebus ; is cunning, 
because he pretends to swallow his own sarcasms; a 
philosopher, because he has three poets at his Court; 
and a species of hero, because he rides full speed in 



276 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

search of wolves and boars. Such being his favorites, 
judge of the man. 

Do you wish to estimate his taste by his diversions ? 
Tuesday was the great day on which he went to enjoy 
the pleasures of the imagination at the German theater. 
Here, in grand pomp, he was accosted by a dramatic 
compliment, which concluded with these words : ''May 
that kind Providence that rewards all, all great and 
good actions, bless and preserve our most gracious 
King, that august father of his people ; bless and pre- 
serve all the royal house, and bless and preserve us all ! 
Amen !" The King was so highly enchanted with 
this dramatic homily that he has added another thou- 
sand crowns to the five thousand which he had granted 
the manager, and has made him a present of four 
chandeliers, and twelve glasses to decorate the boxes. 
Sarcasms innumerable, on the French theater, accom- 
panied this act of generosity. 

Would you judge him by military favors? A pen- 
sion of three hundred crowns has been granted to 
Captain Colas, who had been eight-and-twenty years 
imprisoned in the citadel of Magdeburg ; and the rank 
of lieutenant general bestowed on Borck, his Majesty's 
Governor, who is eighty-two years of age. 

Or by his Court favors? The chamberlain's key 
sent to that extravagant Baron Bagge; who indeed 
presented a hundred louis to Rietz, and forty to the 
person who brought him this gift of royal munificence. 

It has been insinuated to his Majesty that he had 
displeased the citizens, on his return from Prussia ; the 
army, from the first day of his reign; the general 
directory, by rendering it null; his family, by being 
polite instead of friendly; the priests, by his project 
of a third marriage; the pensioners, by the suppression 
of the tobacco monopoly; the Court, by the confusion 
or the delay in the statement of the accounts; and that, 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 277 

therefore, it might perhaps be imprudent, for the 
present, in the moment of effervescence, to accept the 
statue that has been proposed by the city of Konigs- 
berg. 

And are you desirous of an index to the respect in 
which he may be held by foreign nations? The Poles 
have refused a passage to the horses, for remounting 
the cavalry, coming from the Ukraine. I need not 
tell you such a refusal would never have been made to 
Frederick II. 

Count Hertzberg pretends he has received letters 
written against himself, to persons in France, by 
Prince Henry. He showed them to the King, who 
made him no reply. I scarcely can believe there is not 
some fraud in this affair. I know the persons to whom 
the Prince writes in France; and, treachery out of the 
question, they certainly are not interested in favor of 
Count Hertzberg. But whether or no, there are 
rumors that Hertzberg and Blumenthal are soon to 
resign; that the latter will be replaced by M. Voss; 
and the first, who has imagined himself too necessary 
to be taken at his word, ''by a man who will astonish 
the whole world." (This, it is affirmed, is the phrase 
of the King himself.) Hertzberg has the knowledge 
of a civilian, and is well read in archives, because his 
memory is prodigious. He also knows something of 
practical agriculture. But, on the reverse, he is violent, 
passionate, abundantly vain, and explains himself as 
he conceives, that is to say, with difficulty and confu- 
sion; is desirous but incapable of doing that good by 
which reputation is acquired; rather vindictive than 
malignant; subject to prejudices; disposed to injure 
those against whom he is prejudiced; and devoid of 
dignity, address, and resource. 

Blumenthal is a faithful accountant, an ignorant 
Minister; ambitious, when he recollects ambition, and 



278 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

to please his family; and full of respect for the Treas- 
ury, which he places far above the State; and of in- 
difference for the King, whom he more than neglected 
while he was Prince of Prussia. 

The duty has been taken off beer, which yielded 
five hundred and fifty thousand crowns per annum, 
and a substitute, it is said, w^ill be found by an addi- 
ional tax on wines; but wines are already too much 
taxed, and cannot bear any such increase. The ex- 
penses of this part of the customs amount to twenty 
thousand crowns; sixty-nine persons employed have 
been dismissed; but their salaries are continued till 
they shall be replaced. 

First Postscript. — Count Totleben (a Saxon), who 
has been appointed major in the regiment of Elben, 
was preceded by a letter the import of which was that 
he was sent to the regiment to learn the service. 
The equivoque of the expression is stronger in the 
German. The regiment wrote in a body to the King : 
*Tf Count Totleben be sent to instruct us, we have not 
merited, nor will we endure, such humiliation. If he 
come for instruction, he cannot serve as major." 
Some pretend that the dispute is already settled, and 
others that it will have consequences. 

The King about a month since was reminded of 
Captain Forcade, who was formerly a favorite of the 
Prince of Prussia. His Majesty replied: ''Let him 
write what his wishes are." Forcade requested the 
happiness of being one of his attendants. The King 
answered: 'T have no need of useless officers; they 
only serve to make a dust." 

Second Postscript. — By the last courier I sent you 
some calculations on the coins of Poland. Here follow 
others more absurd, relative to those of Denmark. 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 279 

Denmark has adopted, according to law, the nominal 
value of its currency dX iiYz crowns for the fine mark 
of Cologne; yet it has for several years paid from 
thirteen to fourteen crowns the fine mark. Hence 
there are no silver coins in Denmark, and business is 
all transacted in bank bills, the value of which is never 
to be realized. 

When the evil began to be evident, Schimmelmann 
wished it might be remedied. He coined crowns in 
specie gY^ of which contained the fine mark, and calcu- 
lated that the crown in specie was equal to one crown 
93^ sols currency hihs. The fact would have been 
true, if the silver currency had existed at 11 3^ per 
mark; but as none such were to be found, each person 
willingly accepted the crowns in specie at one crown 
nine sols currency; but no one was willing to give a 
crown in specie for one crown nine sols currency. The 
result was that all these fine crowns in specie were 
melted down, 

At present, now the evil is excessive, there is a wish 
to repeat a similar operation, after the following man- 
ner. 

1. Crowns in specie are to be coined of 9j4 to a tine 

mark. 

2. Bank bills are to be issued, which are to represent 
crowns in specie, and are to be realized or paid in 

specie. 

3. It is wished to fix the value of these current 
crowns, in specie, by an edict ; and, as they could not 
coin the crown at the assay of a crown nine sols with- 
out loss, it is intended to raise their value. 

If, therefore, the present currency of Denmark, that 
is to' say, the bank bills, have no real value, but their 
value consists in the balance of payment of this king- 
dom (or the rate of exchange) as it shall be for or 
against Denmark, this operation will be equally absurd 



28o MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

with the former; for, if the bank shall pay crowns in 
specie, in lieu of the ideal value of the currency, it will 
rid itself of its crowns in specie, which will pass 
through the crucible, and the former confusion will 
continue to exist or perhaps be increased to greater 
extravagance, by a new creation of bank bills repre- 
senting the specie, which in like manner will, in a few 
months, be incapable of being realized. 

Third Postscript. — The new establishment of the 
bank of specie still appears to be obscure. It is in- 
tended to coin one million four hundred thousand 
crowns in specie, the silver for which should be at 
Altona. 

There have been great debates, in the Council of 
State, between the Prince of Augustenborg, and the 
Minister of State, Rosencranz. The first requires the 
money should be coined at Altona, and the latter at 
Copenhagen. It is said that the Minister intends on 
this occasion to give in his resignation. 

Bank bills equal to the value of one million four 
hundred thousand crowns are to be fabricated. This 
bank is to exchange the old bills of the Danish bank 
for the new bank bills, at a given rate. 

Should this rate, as is very probable, be lower than 
the course of exchange, it would be an excellent ma- 
noeuvre to buy up bank bills, at present, and after- 
ward convert them into specie. 



LETTER LV 

December 12th, 1786. 
The true reason why the Duke of Weimar is so feasted 
is because he has undertaken to bring the Queen to 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 281 

consent to the marriage of Mademoiselle Voss. The 
Queen laughed at the proposal, and said: *'Yes, they 
shall have my consent; but they shall not have it for 
nothing; on the contrary, it shall cost them dear." 
And they are now paying her debts, which amount to 
more than a hundred thousand crowns; nor do I be- 
lieve this will satisfy her. While the King of Prussia 
is absorbed by meditations on this marriage, to me it 
appears evident that, if the Emperor be capable of a 
reasonable plan he is now wooing two wives, Bavaria 
and Silesia. Yes, Silesia; for I do not think that so 
many manoeuvres on the Danube can be any other 
than the domino of the masquerade. But this is not 
the place in which he will make his first attempt. 
Everything demonstrates (and give me credit for be- 
ginning to know this part of Germany) that he will 
keep on the defensive, on the side of Prussia, which 
he will suffer to exhaust itself in efforts that he may 
freely advance on Bavaria; nor is it probable that he 
will trouble himself concerning the means of recover- 
ing Silesia, till he has first made that immense acquisi- 
tion. 

I say that he may freely advance; for, to speak 
openly, what impediment can we lay in his way ? Omit- 
ing the million and one reasons of indolence or 
impotence which I could allege, let it be supposed that 
we should act — we should take the Low Countries, 
and he Bavaria; we the Milanese, and he the republic 
of Venice. What of all this would save Silesia? And 
what must soon after become of the Prussian power? 
It will be saved by the faults of its neighbors. It will 
fall ! This grand fairy palace will come to the earth 
with a sudden crush, or its Government will undergo 
some revolution. 

The King appears very tranquil concerning future 
contingencies. He is building near New Sans Souci, or 



282 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

rather repairing and furnishing a charming house, 
which formerly belonged to the Lord Marshal, and 
which is destined for Mademoiselle Voss. The Prin- 
cess of Brunswick has requested to have a house at 
Potsdam ; and the King has bestowed that on her which 
he inhabited as Prince Royal, which he is furnishing at 
his own expense. It is evident that this expiring 
Princess, crippled by David's disease, and consumed 
by inanity, is to be lady of honor to Mademoiselle 
Voss. 

The debts of the Queen Dowager, the reigning 
Queen, the Prince Royal, now become King, and of 
some other complaisant people, male and female, are 
paid; and if we add to these sums the pensions that 
have been bestowed, the houses that have been 
furnished, and the officers that have been created, we 
shall find the amount to be tolerably large. This is 
the true way to be prodigal without being generous. 
To this article it may be added that the King has 
given to Messieurs Blumenthal, Gaudi, and Heinitz, 
Ministers of State, each a bailliage. This is a new 
mode of making a present of a thousand louis. 
Apropos of the last of these Ministers, the King has 
replied to several persons employed in the Department 
of the Mines, who had complained of being superseded, 
that hereafter there shall be no claims of seniority. 

He has terminated the affair of the Duke of Meck- 
lenburg with some slight modifications. 

He has given a miraculous kind of reception to Gen- 
eral Count Kalckreuth; who was aide-de-camp to and 
principal agent of Prince Henry; who quarreled with 
him outrageously for the Princess; and whom Fred- 
erick II. kept at a distance that he might not too openly 
embroil himself with his brother. Kalckreuth is a 
man of great merit, and an officer of the first class ; but 
the affectation with which he has been distinguished 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 283 

by the King appears to me to be directed against his 
uncle; perhaps, too, there may be a mingled wish of 
reconciling himself to the army; but should Count 
Briihl persist in assuming, not only the rank which 
has been granted him, but that likewise of seniority, 
which will supersede all the generals, with Moellen- 
dorf at their head, I believe the dissatisfaction will be 
past remedy. All that is of little consequence while 
peace shall continue; and perhaps would be the same, 
were war immediately declared, for a year to come; 
but in process of time, that which has been sown shall 
be reaped. It is a strange kind of calculation which 
spreads discontent through an excellent army by favors 
and military distinctions, bestowed on a race of men 
who have always been such indifferent warriors. 

Not that I pretend to affirm there are not brave and 
intelligent men in the service of Saxony. There are, 
for example two at present, very much distinguished — 
Captain Tielke of the artillery, whom Frederick 
wished to gain but could not, though he offered him 
the rank of lieutenant colonel and an appointment of 
two thousand crowns; and Count Bellegarde, who is 
said to be one of the most able officers in the world. 
But these are not the persons whom they have gained 
for the Prussian service. Hitherto, in all the Saxon 
promotions, the thing consulted was the noble merit 
of being devoted to the sect, or that of being recom- 
mended by Bishopswerder. 

Postscript. — I forgot to mention to you that Comte 
d'Esterno had, at my intercession, addressed the Comte 
de Vergennes on the proposition of inviting M. de 
la Grange into France. It will be highly worthy of 
M. de Calonne to remove those money difficulties 
which M. de Briihl will not fail to raise. 



284 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 



LETTER LVI 

December i6th, 1786. 
General Count Kalckreuth continues to be in 
favor. It is a subject worthy of observation, that, 
should this favor be durable, should advantage be taken 
of the very great abilities of this gentleman, and should 
he be appointed to some place of importance, the King 
will then show he is not an enemy to understanding; 
he is not jealous of the merit of others; nor does he 
mean to keep all men of known talents at a distance. 
This will prove the mystics do not enjoy the exclusive 
privilege of royal favor. But all these deductions, I 
imagine, are premature; for although Kalckreuth is 
the only officer of the army who has hitherto been 
thus distinguished; although he himself had conceived 
hopes he should be; although his merit is of the first 
order; Moellendorf having placed himself at the head 
of the malcontents, which the King will never pardon ; 
Pritwitz being only a brave and inconsiderate soldier, 
the ridiculous echo of Moellendorf ; Anhalt a madman ; 
Gaudi almost impotent, because of his size, and lying 
likewise under the imputation of a defect in personal 
bravery, which occasioned Frederick II. to say of him, 
"He is a good professor, but when the boys are to 
repeat the lessons they have learned, he is never to be 
found." Although his other rivals are too young, and 
too inexperienced, to give him any uneasiness ; in spite 
of all this, I say, I scarcely can imagine but that the 
principal cause of the distinction with which the King 
has treated him was the desire of humbling Prince 
Henry. At least I am very intimate with Kalckreuth, 
of whom I made a tolerably sure conquest at the re- 
views of Magdeburg, and I have reason to believe that 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 285 

I know everything which has passed between him and 
the King ; in all which I do not perceive either anything 
conclusive, or anything of great promise. 

The King supports his capitation tax. It is said it 
will be fixed according to the following rates : A lieu- 
tenant general, a Minister of State, or the widow of 
one of these, at about twelve crowns, or forty-eight 
French livres; a major general, or a privy councilor, 
at ten crowns; a chamberlain, or colonel, eight; a 
gentleman, six; a peasant, who holds lands in good 
provinces, three; a half-peasant (a peasant who holds 
lands has thirty acres, a half-peasant, ten), a crown 
twelve groschen. In the poor provinces, a peasant two 
crowns, a half -peasant, one. 

Coffee hereafter is only to pay one groschen per 
pound, and tobacco the same. The general directory 
has received a memorial on the subject so strongly to 
the purpose that, although anonymous, it has been 
officially read, after which it was formally copied to be 
sent to the tobacco administration, in order to have 
certain facts verified. The step appeared to be so bold 
that the formal copy, or protocol, was only signed by 
four ministers — Messieurs Hertzberg, Arnim, Heinitz, 
and Schulemberg von Blumberg. 

The merchants deputized by the city of Konigsberg 
have written that, if salt is to continue to be monopo- 
lized by the Maritime Company, it will be useless for 
them to come to Berlin; for they can only be the 
bearers of grievances, without knowing what to pro- 
pose. It is asserted, in consequence, that the Maritime 
Company will lose the monopoly of salt. This intelli- 
gence, to say the least, is very premature. Salt is an 
exceedingly important article ; and Struensee, who has 
exerted his whole faculties to secure it to himself, has 
been so perfectly successful that he sells five thousand 
lasts of salt, twenty-eight muids constituting nine 



286 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OE 

lasts. (The muid is one hundred and forty- four 
bushels.) 

I ask one again, if the Maritime Company is to be 
deprived of its most lucrative monopolies, how can it 
afford to pay ten per cent for a capital of twelve hun- 
dred thousand crowns? When an edifice, the summit 
of which is so lofty and the basis so narrow, is once 
raised, before any part of it should be demolished, 
it were very necessary to consult concerning the props 
by which the remainder is to be supported. The King 
has declared that he will render trade perfectly free, 
if any means can be found of not lessening the revenue. 
Is not this declaration pleasantly benevolent? I think 
I hear Job on his dunghill, exclaiming, ^' I consent to 
be cured of all my ulcers, and to be restored to perfect 
health, provided you will not give me any physic, and 
will not subject me to any regimen." 

The munificence is somewhat similar to that which 
shall restore freedom to all the merchandise of France, 
by obliging it to pay excessive heavy duties, the pro- 
duce of which shall be applied to the encouragement of 
such manufactures as shall be supposed capable of 
rivaling the manufactures of foreign nations. I know 
not whether the King imagines he has conferred a 
great benefit on trade; but I know that throughout 
Europe all contraband commerce is become a mere 
article of insurance, the premium of which is more or 
less according to local circumstances; and that there- 
fore a heavy duty (with respect to the revenue) is 
equivalent to a prohibition. 

The King has ordered his subjects to be numbered, 
that he may not only know their number, but their age 
and sex. Probably, the changes which are projected to 
be made in the army are to be the result of this enu- 
meration. But we know how difficult all such number- 
ings are in every country upon earth. Another affair 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 287 

is in agitation, of a much more delicate nature, and 
which supposes a general plan and great fortitude; 
which is a land tax on the estates of the nobles. The 
project begins to transpire, and the provincial coun- 
selors have received orders to send certain informa- 
tions, which seem to have this purpose in view. I 
will believe it is accomplished when I see it. 

Single and distinct facts are of less importance to 
you than an intimate knowledge of him who governs. 
All the characters of weakness are united to those I 
have so often described. Spies already are employed; 
informers are made welcome; those who remonstrate 
meet anger, and the sincere are repulsed or driven to 
a distance. Women only preserve the right of saying 
what they please. There has lately been a private 
concert, at which Madame Hencke, or Rietz, for you 
know that this is one and the same person, was present, 
and stood behind a screen. Some noise was heard at 
the door. A valet de chamhre half opened it, and there 
found the Princess Frederica of Prussia and Made- 
moiselle Voss. The first made a sign for him to be 
silent. The valet de chamhre disobeyed. The King 
instantly rose, and introduced the two ladies. Some 
minutes afterwards, a noise was again heard behind 
the screen. The King appeared to be embarrased. 
Mademoiselle Voss asked what it was. Pier royal 
lover replied, " Nothing but my people." The two 
ladies, however, had quitted the Queen's card table to 
indulge this pretty whim. The King was making a 
joke of the matter, on the morrow, when one of the 
ladies of the palace who was present said to him, 'The 
thing is very true, Sire ; but it were to be wished that it 
were not." Another lady asked him, the other day, at 
table, " But why. Sire, are all the letters opened at the 
post office? It is a very ridiculous and very odious 
proceeding." 



288 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OE 

He was told that the German plays, which he pro- 
tects very much, are not good. " Granted," replied 
he; **but better these than a French playhouse, which 
would fill Berlin with hussies, and corrupt the manners 
of the people." From which, no doubt, you must con- 
clude that the German actresses are Lucretias. You 
must also especially admire the morality of this pro- 
tector of morals, who goes to sup in the house of his 
former mistress, with three women, and makes a pro- 
curess of his daughter. 

He troubles himself as little with foreign politics as 
if he were entirely secure from all possible tempests. 
He speaks in panegyrics of the Emperor, of the 
French always with a sneer, of the English with re- 
spect. The fact is, the man appears to be nothing, less 
than nothing; and I fear lest those diversions which 
may be made in his favor are exaggerated. I shall, on 
this occasion, notice that the Due de Deux-Ponts 
escapes us ; but he unites himself the closer to the Ger- 
manic league, which has so high an opinion of itself 
that it really believes it does not stand in need of our 
aid. Under the standard of what chief it has acquired 
this presumption Heaven knows ! 

There is an anecdote which to me is prophetical, but 
the force of which you will not feel, for want of know- 
ing the country. Prince Ferdinand has received the 
fifty thousand crowns which were due to him, accord- 
ing to the will of the King, on the simple word of 
Werder, conceived in these words: ''His Majesty 
has given me his verbal command to lay down the 
fifty thousand crowns to Your Highness, which will 
be paid to you or your order, by the Treasury, at sight. 
— Welner." An order for fifty thousand crowns, to be 
paid down, signed by any other than the King, is a 
monstrosity in the political regulations of Prussia. 

Erect a bank, and blessings be upon you ; for it is the 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 289 

sole resource for finance which would not be horribly 
burdensome; the only money-machine which, instead 
of borrowing with dearness and difficulty, will cause 
you to receive; the only corner stone on which, under 
present circumstances, the basis of the power of the 
Minister of Finance can be supported. Struensee, who 
is more stiff in the stirrups than ever, since he must 
necessarily become the professor of the new Ministry, 
has charged me to inform you that the King will 
probably purchase shares to the amount of several mil- 
lions, if you will send him (Struensee) an abstract of 
the regulations of the bank, according to which he may 
make his report and proposals. 

Apropos of Struensee, with whom I am daily more 
intimate. He has desired me to inform you that the 
change of the commandite for the dealing in piastres 
will very powerfully lower your exchange; and the 
following is his reasoning to prove his assertion : 

" The remonstrances of the Bank of St. Charles to 
preserve the remittances of the Court, on commission, 
at the rate of ten per cent, have been entirely rejected; 
it has only been able to obtain them on speculation, 
and on the conditions proposed by the Gremios; that is 
to say, at an interest of six per cent for the money 
advanced. 

" The same bank has lately changed the commandite 
at Paris for the piastre business, and substituted the 
house of Le Normand to that of Le Couteulx. As the 
former does not at present possess so extensive a 
credit as the latter, many people foresee that the 
Spanish bank will be under the necessity of keeping 
a greater supply of ready money with their commandite. 

" In the interim, it has found itself extremely dis- 
tressed. Desirous of settling its accounts with the 
House of Le Counteulx, and other houses in France, 
it was in want of the sum of three millions of French 



290 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OE 

livres. To obtain this, it addressed itself to Govern- 
ment, and endeavored to call in sixty millions of reals 
v^hich were its due. Government having, under vari- 
ous pretenses, declined payment, the bank declared it- 
self insolvent, and that it must render the state of its 
affairs public. This means produced its effect; Gov- 
ernment came to its aid, and gave it assignments for 
twenty millions of reals, payable annually." 



LETTER LVII 

December igth, 1786. 
The comedy which Prince Henry had promised the 
world every Monday had its first representation on 
yesterday evening. The King came, contrary to the 
expectation of the Prince, and highly amused himself. 
I was a close observer of royalty, as you may sup- 
pose. It is incontrovertibly the cup of Circe which 
must be presented, in order to seduce him, but filled 
rather with beer than tokay. One remark sul^ciently 
curious, which I made, was that Prince Henry amused 
himself for his own personal pleasure, and was not 
subject to the least absence of mind, neither of politics 
nor of attention to his guests. All the foreign minis- 
ters were present, but I was the only stranger who 
stayed to supper ; and the King, who, when the comedy 
was over, behaved all the evening with great reserve, 
except when some burst of laughter was forced from 
him by the obscene jests of Prince Frederick of Bruns- 
wick, contemplated me with an eye more than cold. 
He is incessantly irritated against me by speeches which 
are made for me; and the most harmless of my ac- 
quaintance are represented as personally offensive to 
his Majesty. For my own part, I am perfectly the 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 291 

reverse of disconsolate on the subject. I only notice 
this that I may describe my present situation, exactly 
as it is, without any hypocrisy. 

It is true that Count Hertzberg has been on the point 
of losing his place, the occasion of which was what fol- 
lows: He had announced the promised arrangement 
to the Duke of Mecklenburg, notwithstanding which, 
the affair was not expedited. Driven beyond his pa- 
tience, and impatience in him is always brutal, he one 
day said to the members of the General Directory, 
" Gentlemen, you must proceed a little faster ; business 
is not done thus; this is a State which can only pro- 
ceed with activity." An account was given to the King 
of this vehement apostrophe. The Sovereign warmly 
reprimanded his Minister, who offered to resign. 
Blumenthal, it is said, accommodated the affair. 

Apropos of the Duke of Mecklenburg, the King, 
when he received his thanks for the restitution of his 
hailliages, said to him, " I have done nothing more 
than my duty; read the device of my order" (Suum 
ciiique). The Poles, when the Prussian arms were 
erected to denote the limits of the frontiers, after dis- 
memberment by the late King, added rapnit to the 
motto. I do not imagine Frederick William will ever 
give occasion to a similar epigram. 

A very remarkable incident in the history of the 
human heart was the following: After various re- 
trenchments had been made upon this Duke, especially 
in the promises that had been given him, one of the 
courtiers represented to the King that he would not 
be satisfied. " Well," said his Majesty, " then we 
must give him a yellow ribbon;" and, accordingly, 
yesterday the yellow ribbon was given. The vainglori- 
ous Duke at this moment found the arrangement of the 
hailliages perfectly satisfactory, and this was the occa- 
sion of his coming to return thanks. 

10 — Memoirs Vol. 5 



292 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

Would you wish to obtain a tolerably just idea of 
the manner of living, in this noble tennis court, 
called the Court of Berlin? If so, pay some attention 
to the following traits, and recollect that I could col- 
lect a hundred of the same species. 

The Princess Frederica of Prussia is now nineteen, 
and her apartment is open at eleven every morning. 

The Dukes of Weimar, Holstein, and Mecklenburg, 
all ill-bred libertines, go in and out of it two or three 
times in the course of the forenoon. 

The Duke of Mecklenburg was recounting I know 
not what tale to the King. The Prince of Brunswick, 
awkwardly enough, trod on the toe of a person pres- 
ent, to make him take notice of something which he 
thought ridiculous. The Duke stopped short in his 
discourse — " I believe, sir, you are diverting yourself 
at my expense." He went on with his conversation to 
the King, and presently stopped again — " I have long, 
sir, been acquainted with the venom of your tongue; 
if you have anything to say, speak it to my face, and I 
shall answer you." More conversation and other in- 
terruptions. " When I am gone. Sire, the Prince will 
paint me in charming colors; I beg Your Majesty will 
recollect what has just passed." 

This same Prince Frederick is, as I have very often 
told you, the chief of the mystics, against whom he ut- 
tered the most horrid things to Baron Knyphausen. 

" But how is this, my Lord ? " replied the Baron ; 
" I understood you were the Pope of that Church." 
" It is false." " I have too good an opinion of your 
honesty to imagine you can be of a sect which you 
disavow; I, therefore, give you my promise every- 
where to declare you despise the mystics too much to be 
one of them; and thus you will recover your repu- 
tation." The Prince beat about the bush, and called 
off his dogs. 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 293 

A courtier, a grand marshal of the Court, petitions 
for a place promised to five candidates. I remarked 
to him, " But how, monsieur, if the place be en- 
gaged?" " Oh, engagements are nothing at present," 
answered he, gravely ; '' for this month past we have 
left off keeping our word." 

Welner, the real author of the disgrace of Schulem- 
burg, went to see him, pitied him, and said, " You 
have too much merit not to have many enemies." " I, 
many enemies, monsieur!" said the ex-Minister; "I 
know of but three — Prince Frederick, because I would 
not give his huntsman a place ; Bishopswerder, because 
I dismissed one of his dependents ; and you, because — 
I know not why." Welner began to weep, and to 
swear that detraction was everywhere rending his 
character. " Tears are unworthy of men," said Schu- 
lemburg; " and I am unable to thank you for yours." 

In a word, all is sunken to the diminutive, as all was 
exalted to the grand. 

It is asserted that the Prussian merchants will be al- 
lowed a free trade in salt and wax. I cannot verify 
the fact to-day; Struensee will be too much occupied, 
it being post day; but if it be true, the Maritime Com- 
pany, which at once will be deprived of salt, wax, cof- 
fee, tobacco, and probably of wood, cannot longer 
support the burden of eighteen per cent at the least; a 
profit which no solid trade can afford, and which, per- 
haps Schulemburg himself, with all his lucrative ex- 
clusive privileges, could not have paid, but by per- 
plexing the treasury accounts, so that the gains of one 
branch concealed the deficiencies of another. 

As to the silk manufactures, which are proposed to 
be laid aside, I do not perceive than any inconvenience 
whatever will result from this. An annual bounty of 
forty thousand rix-dollars divided among the master 
weavers of Berlin, added to the prohibition of foreign 



294 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OE 

silks, will never enable them to maintain a competition. 
Nay, as I have before explained to you, the very manu- 
facturers themselves smuggle, and thus supply more 
than one-third of the silks that are used in the country ; 
for it is easy to conceive that purchasers will prefer the 
best silks, which have more substance than, and are of 
superior workmanship to, those which monopoly 
would oblige them to buy. Not that the raw materials 
cost the manufacturer of Berlin more than they do the 
manufacturer of Lyons. They both procure them 
from the same countries, and the former does not pay 
the six per cent entrance duty to w^hich the Lyons manu- 
facturer is subject; besides that, the German workman 
will labor with more diligence than the French; nor is 
labor much dearer here than at Lyons. The one re- 
ceives eighty centimes an ell for making, and the other, 
ninety-five centimes for the same quality, of equal 
fineness, which scarcely amounts to one and a half per 
cent on the price of the silk, estimated at five livres 
the French ell. The Berlin manufacturer has like- 
wise, by a multitude of local calculations of trade, to 
which I have paid severe attention, an advantage of 
thirty per cent over the Lyons trader, at the fair of 
Frankfort on the Oder. And, whether it proceed from 
a defect in the Government, the poverty of the work- 
men, or the ignorance of the manufacturer, he still can- 
not support the competition. Of what use, therefore, 
are so many ruinous looms, of which there are not less 
than sixteen hundred and fifty, at Berlin, Potsdam, 
Frankfort, and Koepnic ? — the product of which, how- 
ever, is far from being equivalent to the same number 
of looms at Lyons. The Berlin weaver will not, at 
the utmost, do more than two-thirds of the work 
turned out of hand by the weaver of Lyons. Of these 
sixteen hundred and fifty looms, we may reckon about 
twelve hundred in which are weaved taffetas, bro- 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 295 

cades, velvets, etc. The remainder are employed in 
fabricating gauze, about nine hundred and eighty thou- 
sand Berlin ells of which are annually produced. (The 
French ell is equal to an ell three-quarters of Berlin 
measure.) The twelve hundred silk looms only pro- 
duce about nine hundred and sixty thousand ells; 
which in the whole amount to one million nine hundred 
and forty thousand ells. The sum total of the looms 
consume about one hundred and fourteen thousand 
pounds weight of raw silk, at sixteen ounces to the 
pound. (You know that seventy-six thousand pounds 
weight of raw silk will require about one hundred and 
fourteen thousand pounds weight of undressed silk.) 
There are also twenty-eight thousand pair, per annum, 
of silk stockings fabricated at Berlin; which consume 
about five thousand pounds weight of raw silk. It is 
principally in the stocking manufactory that the silk 
of the country is employed ; which, in reality, is supe- 
rior in quality to that of the Levant; but they so ill 
understand the art of spinning it, in the Prussian 
States, that it is with difficulty worked in the silk loom. 
The stocking manufacturers use it to a greater advan- 
tage, because being cheap, and of a strong quality, 
stockings are made from it preferable to those of 
Nismes and Lyons, in which cities the rejected silk 
alone is set apart for stockings. From eight to twelve 
thousand pounds weight of silk is annually obtained in 
the Prussian States, in which there are mulberry 
trees enough to supply thirty thousand pounds weight. 
This constitutes no very formidable rivalship with 
the silk produced in the States of the King of 
Sardinia. 

The commission of inquiry has written to inform 
Launay that it has no further demand to make from 
him ; and in consequence he has addressed the King for 
permission to depart. The King replied, "I have told 



296 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OB 

you to wait here till the commission shall be closed.'' 
There is either cunning or tyranny on one side or the 
other. 



LETTER LVIII 

December 23d, 1786. 
Mademoiselle Hencke, or Madame Rietz, as you 
think proper to call her, has petitioned the King to be 
pleased to let her know what she is to expect, and to 
give her an estate on which she may retire. The 
Sovereign offered her a country house, at the distance 
of some leagues from Potsdam. The lady sent a posi- 
tive refusal, and the King, in return, will not hear any 
mention made of an estate. It is difficult to say what 
shall be the product of this conflict between cupidity and 
avarice. The pastoral, in the meantime, proceeds with- 
out relaxation. ''Ine:s de Castro" has several times 
been performed at the German theater, imitated from 
the English, and not from the French. In the fourth 
act, the Prince repeats with ardor every oath of fidelity 
to a lady of honor. This has been the moment of each 
representation which the Queen has chosen to leave the 
house. Was it the effect of chance, or was it in- 
tendedly marked? This is a question that cannot be 
answered, from any consideration of the turbulent and 
versatile, but not very feeble, character of this Prin- 
cess. 

When her brother-in-law, the Duke of Weimar, ar- 
rived, the King gave him a very gracious reception; 
and, by degrees, his countenance changed to icy cold- 
ness. Conjectures are that he has been lukewarm, or 
has wanted address in his negotiation with the Queen, 
on the subject of the marriage, which is far from being 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 297 

determined on. Two private houses have been bought 
at Potsdam, and have been furnished with every de- 
gree of magnificence. And to what purpose, if mar- 
riage be intended? May not the wife be lodged in the 
palace? Speaking of arrangements, let me inform 
you that the King has sent a M. Paris, his valet de 
chamhre, into France, to pay his personal debts there, 
and to purchase such things as are wanting to these 
newly bought houses which are consecrated to love. 

The relations of Mademoiselle Voss, who four 
months since pressed her to depart for Silesia, there to 
marry a gentleman who asked her hand, are at present 
the first to declare that the projected royal marriage 
would be ridiculous, and even absurd. In fact, its con- 
sequences might be very dangerous; for, should dis- 
gust succeed enjoyment, a thing which has been seen to 
happen. Mademoiselle Voss must separate with a pen- 
sion; instead of which, in her rank of favorite, she 
might rapidly make her own fortune, that of her 
family, and procure the advancement of her creatures. 

Be this as it may, the time is passed at Potsdam in 
projecting bowers for love; and, though the Sovereign 
might not perhaps be exactly addressed in the words of 
La Hire to Charles VII. — *' I assure you, Sire, it is 
impossible to lose a kingdom with greater gayety," it 
may at least be said, " It is impossible to risk a king- 
more tenderly." But whatever tranquillity may be 
affected, there are proceedings and projects which, 
without alarming, for he certainly has valor, occupy 
the Monarch. The journey of the Emperor to Cher- 
son, the very abrupt and very formal declaration of 
Russia to the city of Dantzic, the intended camp of 
eighty thousand men in Bohemia, for the amusement 
of the King of Naples, are at least incidents that may 
compel attention, if not remark. There are doubts con- 
cerning the journey of the Empress into the Crimea, 



298 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

Potemkin being unwilling to make her a witness of tHe 
incredible poverty of the people and the army, in this 
newly acquired garden. 

The discouragement of the Ministry of Berlin still 
continues to increase. The King, for these two months 
has not acted in concert with any single Minister. 
Hence their torpor and pusillanimity are augmented. 
Count Hertzberg is progressive in his descent, and 
Werder begins to decline. The King remains totally 
unconcerned; and never was the mania of reigning in 
person and of doing nothing carried to greater excess. 
Instead of the capitation, a tax on houses is talked of 
as a substitute. I begin to think that neither of these 
taxes will take place. There is an inclination to retract 
without disgrace, if that be possible; and the pretext 
will be furnished by the advice of the provincial presi- 
dents. It is the more extraordinary that this capitation 
tax should be so much persisted in, since, under the 
reign of Frederick William I., a similar attempt was 
made, and which on the second year was obliged to 
be renounced. 

The Prussian army has made a new acquisition, of 
the same kind with those by which it has been enriched 
for these four months past. I speak of Prince Eugene 
of Wurtemberg. He began his career by an excess 
of libertinage. He since has distinguished himself in 
the trade of corporal-schlag, and by stretching the 
severity of discipline to ferocity. He notwithstand- 
ing, has not acquired any great reputation by these 
means. He has lived at Paris, and plunged into 
mesmerism. He afterward professed to be a somnam- 
bulist, and next continued the farce, by the practice of 
midwifery. These different masquerades accompanied 
and concealed the real object of his ambition and his 
fervor, which is to give credit to the sect of the mystics, 
of whom he is one of the most enthusiastic chiefs. A 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 299 

regiment has lately been granted him, which brings 
him to Berlin. His fortune will not permit him to live 
wholly there ; but his situation will allow him to make 
journeys to that city, where he will be useful to the 
fathers of the new church. Singular, ardent, and ac- 
tive, he delivers himself like an oracle and enslaves 
his hearers by his powerful and ecstatic elocution, with 
his eyes sometimes haggard, always inflamed, and his 
countenance in excessive emotion. In a word, he is 
one of those men whom hypocritics and jugglers make 
their successful precursors. 

23d, at Noon. 
I have just had a very deep and almost sentimental 
conversation with Prince Henry. 

He is in a state of utter discouragement as well on 
his own behalf as on behalf of his country. He has 
confirmed all I have related to you, and all I shall now 
relate, — torpor in every operation, gloom at Court, 
stupefaction among Ministers, discontent everywhere. 
Little is projected, less still is executed. When it is 
noticed that business is suffered to languish, the King's 
being in love is very gravely given as the reason, and 
it is affirmed that the vigor of administration depends 
on the compliance of Mademoiselle Voss. Remarks at 
the same time are made how ridiculous it is thus to 
suspend the affairs of a whole kingdom, etc., etc. 

The General Directory, which should be a Council 
of State, is nothing more than an office to expedite 
common occurrences. If Ministers make any propo- 
sition no answer is returned; if they remonstrate they 
meet with disgust. What they ought to do is so far 
from what they actually do that the debasement of 
their dignity occasions very disagreeable reflections. 
Never was a public opinion produced more suddenly 



300 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

than it has been by Frederick William IL, in a country 
where the seeds of such opinion did not appear to 
exist. 

Prince Henry can find no remedy for domestic 
vices, but he has no apprehensions concerning foreign 
affairs ; because the King is at present wholly decided 
in favor of France, and still more destitute of confi- 
dence for the favorers of the English faction. Pray 
take notice that this is the version of the Prince; not 
that I am very incapable of believing it, if we do not 
throw up our own chances. 

What the public papers have announced respecting 
the journey of Prince Henry, is without foundation. 
Some wish to go to Spa and France, but no plan is 
yet determined on; a vague hope, which he cannot 
suffer to expire, notwithstanding the blows he receives, 
will detain him at Rheinsberg. Year will succeed to 
year; the moment of rest will arrive, and habit will 
enchain him in his frosty castle, which he has lately 
enlarged and rendered more commodious. To these 
different motives, add a nullity of character, a will 
unstable as the clouds, frequent indisposition, and a 
heated imagination, by which he is exhausted. That 
which we desire without success, gives more torment 
than that which is executed with difficulty. 

A second Minister is to be appointed for Silesia ; one 
singly is a kind of viceroy. It is dangerous, say they, 
to see with the eyes of an individual only. Divide et 
impera. Thus far have they advanced in their politics. 

Prince Frederick of Brunswick is ardently active in 
his intrigues against Prince Henry, and the Duke his 
brother. What he wishes is not known ; but he wishes, 
and hence he has acquired a certain importance among 
the tumultuous crowd, who cannot perceive that a 
contemptible Prince is still more contemptible than an 
ordinary man. He neither can be of any durable util= 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 301 

ity, nor in the least degree agreeable or estimable ; but, 
under certain given circumstances, he may be a very 
necessary spy. 



LETTER LIX 

December 26th, 1786. 
A GRAND list of promotions is spoken of, in v^hich 
Prince Henry and the Duke of Brunswick are in- 
cluded, as field marshals. But the first says he v^ill 
not be a field marshal. He continually opposed that 
title being bestowed on the Duke, under Frederick II., 
who refused to confer such a rank on the princes of 
the blood. This alternative of haughtiness and vanity, 
even aided by his ridiculous comedy, will not lead him 
far. He intends to depart in the month of September 
for Spa; he is afterward to visit our southern prov- 
inces, and from thence is to continue his journey to 
Paris, where he is to pass the winter. Such are his 
present projects, and the probability is sufficiently 
great that not anything of all this will happen. 

The King has declared that he will not bestow any 
places on persons who are already in office under the 
Princes. This may perhaps be the cause that Count 
Nostitz has forsaken Prince Henry. The Count is a 
very strange kind of being. 

First sent into Sweden, where he erected himself a 
chief of some envoys of the second order, finding him- 
self dissatisfied with the severe laws of etiquette, he 
passed a slovenly life in an office, which he exercised 
without abilities. On his return he procured himself 
the appointment of one of the gentlemen who accom- 
panied the Prince Royal into Russia, but the consent 
of the Prince he had forgotten to ask. He was con- 



302 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

sequently regarded as an inconvenient inspector, and 
was but sparingly produced on public occasions. 
Hence arose ill-humor, complaints, and murmurs. 
The late King sent him into Spain, where he dissipated 
the remainder of his fortune. The merchants of 
Embden, and of Konigsberg, requested the Spaniards 
would lower the duties on I know not what species 
of merchandise. Count Nostitz solicited, negotiated, 
and presently wrote word '' that the new regulations 
were wholly to the advantage of the Prussian sub- 
jects." The King ordered the Court of Spain to be 
thanked. Fortunately, Count Finckenstein, who had 
not received the regulations, delayed sending the 
thanks. The regulations came, and the Prussian mer- 
chants were found to be more burdened than formerly. 
His Majesty was in a rage. Nostitz was suddenly 
recalled, and arrived at Berlin without the fortune 
that he had spent, destitute of the respect that he had 
lost, and deprived of all future hopes. Prince Henry 
welcomed him to his palace, an asylum open to all mal- 
contents. Here he remained eighteen months, and here 
displayed himself in the same manner that he had done 
everywhere else — inconsistent in his imaginations, im- 
moral in mind, ungracious in manners, not capable of 
writing, not willing to read, as vain as a blockhead, as 
hot as a turkey cock, and unfit for any kind of office, 
because he neither possesses principles, seductive man- 
ners, nor knowledge. Such as here depicted, this in- 
sipid mortal, the true hero of the Dunciad, is in a few 
days to be appointed to the Electorate of Hanover. 
In excuse for so capricious a choice, it is alleged that 
he will have nothing to do in the place. But where- 
fore send a man to a place where he has nothing 
to do? 

Madame Rietz, who of all the mistresses of the 
Sovereign has most effectually resisted the incon- 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 303 

stancy of men, and the intrigues of the wardrobe, has 
modestly demanded the margraviate of Schwedt from 
the King, to serve as a place of retreat; and four gen- 
tlemen to travel with her son as with the son of a 
Monarch. This audacious request has not displeased 
the King, who had been offended by the demand made 
of an estate. He, no doubt, has discovered that he 
is highly respected, now that he receives propositions 
so honorable. 

His former friends no longer can obtain a minute's 
audience ; the gates to them are gates of brass. But a 
comedian, whose name is Marron, at present an inn- 
keeper at Verviers, lately came to solicit his protection. 
He chose the moment when the King was stepping into 
his carriage. The King said to him, " By and by ; by 
and by." Marron waited; the King returned, sent 
for him into his apartments, spoke with him a quarter 
of an hour, received his request, and promised every- 
thing for which he petitioned. Never, no, never will 
subaltern influence decline; footmen will be all-puis- 
sant. Welner has publicly obtained the surname of 
Viceroy, or of Petty King. 

The Monarch has written to the General of the gen- 
darmes (Pritwitz), noticing that several of his ofli- 
cers played at games of chance ; that these games were 
forbidden; that he should renew the prohibitions un- 
der pain of being sent to the fortress for the first 
offense, and of being broken for the second. The 
information and the threat were meant at the General 
himself, who has lost much money with the Duke of 
Mecklenburg. 

It is aflirmed that the Duke of Brunswick will be 
here from the eighth to the fifteenth of January. But 
Archimedes himself demanded a point of support, and 
I see none of any kind at Berlin. There are numerous 
wishes, but not one will; and the wishes themselves 



304 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

are incoherent, contradictory, and rash; he does not 
know, nor will he ever know, how to connect a single 
link in the chain : he will more especially never know 
how to lop off the parasitical and avaricious sucker. 
Agriculture is what is most necessary to be encour- 
aged, particularly as soon as commercial oppression 
shall be renounced; though this oppression has hith- 
erto been productive of gold, thanks to the situation 
of the Prussian States. But how may agriculture be 
encouraged in a country where the half of the peas- 
ants are attached to the glebe T For so they are in 
Pomerania, Prussia, and in other parts. 

It would be a grand operation in the royal domains, 
were they divided into small farms, as has so long 
since been done by the great landholders in England. 
It is a subject of much greater importance than regu- 
lations of trade; but there are so many interested peo- 
ple to be controverted, and the habit of servitude is so 
rooted, that strength of understanding, energy, and 
consistency, not one grain of which I can find here, 
are necessary to make the attempt. More knowledge 
likewise is requisite than will here be found, for a 
long time to come, for it to be supposed that there is 
no town, no province, which would not most gladly 
consent to pay the King much more than the neat 
revenue he at present obtains, if he would suffer the 
inhabitants to assess themselves; taking care, how- 
ever, continually to watch over the assessments, that 
the magistrates and nobles might not oppress the peo- 
ple ; or for it to be imagined that the subject would not 
gain three-fourths of the expenses of collecting, and 
would be free of all those unworthy restraints which 
are at present imposed upon them by the fiscal treasury. 

It is also necessary to recollect that it is not here as 
with us, where the body, the mass, of national wealth 
is so great, because of the excellence of the soil and 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 305 

the climate, the correspondence between the provinces, 
etc., etc., that we may cut as close as we will, provided 
we do not erect kilns to burn up the grass ; and that in 
France the expenses of collecting only need be dimin- 
ished; that no other relief is necessary; nay, that we 
may still prodigiously increase the load, provided that 
load be well poised. Here, two or three provinces at 
the utmost excepted, the basis is so narrow and the 
soil so little fruitful, so damp, so impoverished, that 
it is only for tutelary authority to perform the great- 
est part of all which can reconcile Nature to this her 
neglected offspring. The division of the domains it- 
self, an operation so productive of every kind of re- 
source, requires very powerful advances; for the far- 
mer's stock and the implements of husbandry are, 
perhaps, those which, when wanting, the arm can least 
supply. 

Independent of this grand point of view, we must 
not forget the military power, which must here be 
respected, for here there are neither Alps nor Apen- 
nines, rivers nor seas, for ramparts; here, therefore, 
with six millions of inhabitants, Government is de- 
sirous, and, to a certain point, is obliged, to maintain 
two hundred thousand men in arms. In war there 
are no other means than those of courage or of obedi- 
ence, and obedience is an innate idea in the serf peas- 
ant; for which reason, perhaps, the grand force of 
the Prussian army consists in the union of the feudal 
and military systems. Exclusive of that vast consid- 
eration, which I shall elsewhere develop, let me add it 
will not be sufficient here to act like such or such a 
Russian or Polish lord, and say, " You are enfran- 
chised," for the serfs here will reply, " We are very 
much obliged to you for your enfranchisement, but we 
do not choose to be free " ; or even to bestow land 
gratuitously on them, for they will answer, " What 



3o6 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

would you have us do with lands ? " Proprietors and 
property can only be erected by making advances, and 
advances are expensive; and, as there are so few gov- 
ernments which have the wisdom to sow in order that 
they may reap, this will not be the first to begin. It 
is little probable that the morning of wholesome poli- 
tics should first break upon this country. 

At present it is almost publicly known that the 
Comte d'Esterno is to depart in the month of April 
for France. I shall submit it to your delicacy, and to 
your justice, to pronounce whether I can remain here 
the overseer of a charge d'affaires. During his ab- 
sence, functions might be bestowed on me ; here I cer- 
tainly would not remain under an envoy per interim; 
nor would this require more than the simple precau- 
tion of sending me secret credentials. But, as no such 
thing will be done, you will perceive that this is a new 
and very strong reason for my departure about that 
time. Those who would make me nothing more than 
a gazetteer are ill-acquainted with mankind; and still 
more so those who hope to oblige me to consent tacitly 
or perforce. 

Postscript — The Count de Masanne, a fervent 
mystic, is the grand master of the Queen's household. 
Welner supped with her yesterday, and had the place 
of honor; that is to say, he sat opposite her. If he 
cede to wishes of such indecent vanity, he will pres- 
ently be undone. 



LETTER LX 

December 30th, 1786. 
Yesterday was a memorable moment for the man of 
observation. Count Briihl, a Catholic, a foreigner, 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 307 

assuming his rank in the Prussian army, was installed 
in his place as Governor, and the capitation tax was 
intimated. This capitation, so openly contemned, sup- 
ported with so much obstinacy, demonstrated to be 
vicious in its principle, impossible of execution, and 
barren in product, at once announces the disgraceful 
inanity of the General Directory, by which it was 
loudly opposed, and the sovereign influence of the 
subaltern by whom its chiefs have been resisted. How 
can we suppose the King has been deceived respecting 
the public opinion of an operation so universally con- 
demned? How may he be excused, since his Minis- 
ters themselves have informed him that he was in 
danger of, perhaps forever, casting from him, at the 
very commencement of his reign, the title of well- 
beloved, of which he was so ambitious? Here we at 
least behold the ambiguous morning of a cloudy 
reign. 

The Queen is not satisfied with the choice that has 
been made of Count Briihl, neither is she with the 
regulations of her household, and therefore she is 
again contracting debts. She is allowed, for expenses 
of every kind, only fifty-one thousand crowns per 
annum. It will be difficult for her to make this sum 
supply her real wants, her generous propensities, and 
her numerous caprices. Blind to the amours of the 
King, she can see the disorder of his domestic affairs. 
The day before yesterday there was no wood for the 
fires of her apartments. Her house steward entreated 
the steward of the royal palace to lend him his assist- 
ance. The latter excused himself because of the small- 
ness of his remaining stock. How, you will ask, can 
disorder so indecent happen? Because the quantity 
consumed was regulated by the late King on the sup- 
position that the Queen and her children resided at 
Potsdam. Since his death no person has thought of 



3o8 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

the necessary addition. Such incidents, trifling as 
they are in themselves, prove to what excess careless- 
ness and the defects of inconsistency are carried. 

Count Briihl was waited for in order to furnish the 
house of the Princes. As he is overwhelmed by debts, 
and is a Saxon nobleman ruined, it was requisite the 
King should cause the sum of twenty thousand crowns 
to be paid at Dresden, to satisfy the most impatient 
of his creditors. Opinions concerning him are divided. 

The only points on which people are unanimous are, 
that he is one of the flock of the elect (the mystics), 
and that he plays exceedingly well on the violin. 
Those who have been acquainted with him fifteen 
years ago speak in raptures of his amenity. Those 
whose knowledge of him is more recent are silent. 
Those who are totally unacquainted with him say he 
is the most amiable of men. His pupil smiles when 
he is praised. It is affirmed that the Grand Duke has 
sent him here, and that it is his intention to take him 
to himself whenever he shall have the power. 

The Prince Royal will soon be worthy the trouble 
of observation ; not merely because Frederick II. drew 
his horoscope in the following terms — '' I shall reign 
again in him," for perhaps he only meant by that to 
testify his contempt for the present King; but because 
all things in him proclaim greatness, but ungracious- 
ness of character ; awkwardness, but a speaking coun- 
tenance; unpolished, but sincere. He asks the where- 
fore of everything, nor will he ever be satisfied with 
a reply that is not reasonable. He is severe and tena- 
cious, even to ferocity, and yet is not incapable of 
afifection and sensibility. He already knows how to 
esteem and contemn. His disdain of his father ap- 
proaches hatred, which he is not very careful to con- 
ceal. His veneration of the late King partakes of 
idolatry, and this he proclaims. Perhaps the youth 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 309 

is destined to great actions; and, should he become 
the engine of some memorable revolution, men who 
can see to a distance will not be surprised. 

Launay at length departs; and, as I believe, solely 
from the fear which the Ministry, or rather which 
Welner, has that the King should, in some weary or 
embarrassed moment, restore him to his place. His 
dismission has been granted to him only on condition 
that he would give up twenty-five thousand crowns of 
arrears, which are his due. This is a shameful piece 
of knavery. They have exacted an oath from him 
that he will not carry off any papers that relate to the 
State. This is pitiable weakness. For of what valid- 
ity is such an oath ? He may afford you some useful, * 
or rather curious, annotations. In other respects, the 
man is nothing, less than nothing. He does not so 
much as suspect the elements of his own trade. His 
speech is perplexed, his ideas are confused; in a word, 
he could only act a great part in a country where he 
had neither judges nor rivals. But he is not, as he is 
accused of being, a malicious person. He is a very 
weak and a very vain man, and nothing more. He 
has acted the part of an executioner, no doubt; but 
where is the financier who has not? Where would 
be the justice of demanding the hangman to be racked 
because of the tortures he had inflicted in pursuance 
of the sentence which the judge had pronounced? 

He will predict deficiencies in the revenue, and in 
this he will not be wrong; but he perhaps will not in- 
form you, although it is exceedingly true, that econom- 
ical principles, which are the guardians of this coun- 
try, are already very sensibly on the decline. The 
service is more expensive, the houses of princes more 
numerous, the stables are better filled, pensions are 
multiplied, arrangements more costly, salaries of am- 
bassadors almost doubled, the manners more elegant, 



310 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

etc. The greatest part of these expenses was neces- 
sary. The real misfortune is that there is no care 
taken for the proportionate increase of the revenue 
by slow, but certainly productive, means ; and that they 
seem not to suppose there will be any deficiency, which 
will at length make an immense error in the sum total ; 
so that, without war, a long reign may see the end of 
the Treasury, should the present measures be pursued. 
It is not the prodigality of pomp which excites mur- 
murs. It is a prodigality in contrast to the personal 
avarice of the King which is to be dreaded. It is an 
insensible, but a continual wasting. Hitherto the evil 
is inconsiderable, and, no doubt, does not strike any 
person; but I begin to understand the country in the 
whole, and I perceive these things more distinctly 
than I can describe. 

It was a custom with the late King, every year, on 
the twenty- fourth of December, to make presents to 
his brothers and sisters, the whole sum of which 
amounted to about twenty thousand crowns. This 
custom the nephew has suppressed. A habitude of 
forty years had led the uncles to consider these gratu- 
ities as a part of their income; nor did they expect that 
they should have set the first examples, or rather have 
BEEN MADE the first examples, of economy. Faithful 
to his peculiar mode of making presents, the King has 
gratified the Duke of Courland with a yellow ribbon. 
It would be difficult more unworthily to prostitute his 
Order. 

To this sordidness of metal, and this debauchery of 
moral, coin, examples of easy prodigality may be op- 
posed. The house of the Jew Ephraim had paid two 
hundred thousand crowns, on account, for the late 
King, at Constantinople, during the Seven Years' 
War. The money was intended to corrupt some Turks, 
but the project failed. Frederick II. continually de- 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 311 

layed the repayment of the sum. His successor yester- 
day reimbursed the heirs of Ephraim. 

A saddler who had thirty years been the creditor of 
the late King, who never would pay the debts he had 
contracted while Prince Royal, demanded the sum of 
three thousand crowns from his present Majesty. The 
King wrote at the bottom of the petition: " Pay the 
bin at sight, with interest at six per cent." 

The Duke of Holsteinbeck is at length to go to 
Konigsberg, to take command of a battalion of grena- 
diers. I have elsewhere depicted this insignificant 
Prince, who will be a boy at sixty, and who will nei- 
ther do harm to the enemies of the State nor good 
to his private friends. 



LETTER LXI 

January ist, 1787. 
The King has lately bestowed his Order on four of 
his subjects. The one is the keeper of his treasury 
(M. von Blumenthal), a faithful but a dull Minister. 
The second is the master of his horse, M. von Schwer- 
in, a silly buffoon under the late King, a cipher during 
his whole life, a perplexed blockhead, and on whom 
the first experiment that was made, after the accession, 
was to deprive him of his place. The third is his 
Majesty's Governor, a man of eighty, who has been 
kept at a distance for these eighteen years past, and 
who is destitute of talents, service, dignity, and esteem 
for his pupil, which perhaps is the first mark of good 
sense he ever betrayed. The last who is not yet named, 
is Count Briihl, who is thus rewarded by titles, after 
receiving the most effective gratifications before he 
has exercised any office. What a prostitution of hon- 
ors! I say what a prostitution; for the prodigality 



312 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

with which they are bestowed is itself prostitution. 

Among others who have received favors, a mystic 
priest is distinguished, — a preacher of effrontery, who 
reposes on the couch of gratifications, at the expense 
of two thousand crowns. To him add Baron Boden, 
driven from Hesse Cassel, a spy of the poHce at Paris, 
known at BerHn to be a thief, a pickpocket, a forger, 
capable of everything except that which is honest, and 
of whom the King himself said he is a rascal, yet on 
whom he has bestowed a chamberlain's key. Pen- 
sions innumerable have been granted to obscure or 
infamous courtiers. The Academicians, Welner, and 
Moulines, are appointed directors of the finances of 
the Academy. 

All these favors announce a Prince without judg- 
ment, without delicacy, without esteem either for him- 
self or his favors; reckless of his own fame, or of 
the opinion of the public; and as proper to discourage 
those who pQssess some capacity as to embolden such 
as are natively nothing, or worse than nothing. 

The contempt of the people is the merited salary of 
so many good works ; and this contempt is daily more 
pointed; the stupor by which it was preceded is now 
no more. The world was at first astonished to see the 
King faithful to his comedy, faithful to his concert, 
faithful to his old mistress, faithful to his new one, 
finding time to examine engravings, furniture, the 
shops of tradesmen, to play on the violoncello, to in- 
quire into the tricks of the ladies of the palace, and 
seeking for moments to attend to ministers, who de- 
bate in his hearing on the interests of the State. But 
at present astonishment is incited if some new folly 
or some habitual sin has not consumed one of his days.. 

The new uniforms invented by his Majesty have 
this day made their appearance. This military bauble, 
prepared for the day on which men have the ridiculous 



BERLIN AND ST, PETERSBURG 313 

custom of making a show of themselves, confirms the 
opinion that the sovereign who attaches so much im- 
portance to such a circumstance possesses that kind 
of understanding which induces him to believe that 
parading is a thing of consequence. 

Is his heart better than his understanding? Of this 
men begin to doubt. 

Count Alexander Wartensleben, a former favorite 
of the present King, who was imprisoned at Spandau 
for his fidelity to him, being sent for from the farther 
part of Prussia to Berlin, to command the guards, has 
lately been placed at the head of a Brandenburg regi- 
ment ; and by this arrangement he loses a pension of a 
hundred guineas, which was granted him by the King 
while Prince Royal. This frank and honest officer 
IS a stranger to the sect in favor; and, after having 
languished in a kind of forgetfulness, finally receives 
a treatment which neither can be called disgrace nor 
reward. This is generally considered as a deplorable 
proof that the King, to say the least, neither knows 
how to love nor hate. 

Mademoiselle Voss has been persuaded that it would 
be more generous in her to prevent her lover commit- 
ting a folly than to profit by such folly ; for thus is the 
marriage publicly called, which would have become a 
subject of eternal reproach whenever the intoxication 
of passion should have slumbered. The beauty, there- 
fore, will be made a countess, become rich, and perhaps 
the sovereign of the will of the Sovereign, but not 
his spouse. Her influence may be productive of great 
changes, and in other countries might render Count 
Schulemburg, the son-in-law of Count Finckenstein, 
first Minister. He has acted very wisely in attaching 
Struensee to himself, who teaches him his trade with 
so much perspicuity that the Count imagines his trade 
is learned. He has besides an exercised understand- 



314 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

ing, and an aptitude to industry, order, consistency, 
and energy. Aided by his tutor, he will find no diffi- 
culties too great ; and he is the man necessary for this 
King, whose will is feeble and cowardly. The late 
King was equally averse to men of many difficulties, 
but it was from a conviction of his own superiority. 
Great talents, however, are little necessary to reign 
over your men of Topinamboo. 

The memorial against the capitation tax, which has 
been signed by Messieurs Hertzberg, Heinitz, Arnim, 
and Schulemburg, concludes with these words : " This 
operation, which alarms all classes of Your Majesty's 
subjects, effaces in their hearts the epithet of well- 
beloved, and freezes the fortitude of those whom you 
have appointed to your Council." Struensee, on his 
part, has sent in two pages of figures, which demon- 
strate the miscalculations that will infallibly be dis- 
covered when the tax has been collected. Messieurs 
Werder, Gaudi, and probably Welner, persist; and 
the King, who neither has the power to resist a plur- 
ality of voices, nor that of receding, dares not yet 
decide. 

On the 15th of February, he is to depart for Pots- 
dam, where he proposes to continue the remainder of 
the year; that period excepted when he journeys into 
Silesia and Prussia. 

Postscript — Evening. — The King has to-day ad- 
vanced the Duke of Brunswick to the rank of field 
marshal. This is indubitably the first honorable choice 
he has made; and everybody approves his having 
singly promoted this Prince. 

January 2d. 
The Dutch envoy has thrown me into a state of 
great embarrassment, and into astonishment not less 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 315 

great. He has asked me, in explicit terms, whether 
I consented that endeavors should be made to procure 
me credentials to treat with the Princess of Orange, at 
Nimeguen. If deception might be productive of any- 
thing, I should have imagined he only wished to in- 
duce me to speak; but the question was accompanied 
with so many circumstances, all true and sincere, so 
many confidential communications of every kind, and 
a series of anecdotes so rational and so decisive, that, 
though I might find it difficult to account for the whim 
he had taken, I could not possibly doubt of the candor 
of the envoy. After this first consideration, I hesi- 
tated whether I should mention the affair to you, from 
a fear that the presumption should be imputed to me 
of endeavoring to rival M. de Renneval; but, besides 
that my cipher will pass under the inspection of my 
prudent friend, before it will fall into the hands of 
the King or his Ministers, and that I shall thus be 
certain he will erase whatever might injure me to no 
purpose, I have imagined it was not a part of my 
duty to pass over a proposition of so singular a kind 
in silence. I ought to add further, referring to the 
ample details which I shall give, after the long con- 
ference which I am to have w4th him to-morrow morn- 
ing, that, if France has no latent intention, and means 
only to weaken the Stadtholder, in such a manner as 
that his influence cannot hereafter be of service to the 
English, the patriots are by no means so simple in their 
intentions. I have proofs that, from the year 1784 
to the end of 1785, they were in secret correspondence 
with Baron Reede; and that they ceased precisely at 
the nfoment when the Baron wrote to them : " Make 
your proposals ; I have a carte blanche from the Prin- 
cess, and, on this condition, the King of Prussia will 
answer for the Prince." I have also proofs that M. 
de Renneval cannot succeed, and that the affair will 



3i6 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

never be brought to a conclusion, " so long as nego- 
tiation shall be continued instead of arbitration.'' 
These are his words, and they appear to me remark- 
able. It is equally evident that the implacable ven- 
geance of the Due de la Vauguyon arises from his hav- 
ing dared to make love to the Princess, and his love 
having been rejected. I shall leave those who are able 
to judge of the veracity of these allegations; but it is 
my duty to repeat verbally the following phrase of 
Baron Reede : " M. de Calonne is inimical to us, and 
his enemy opens his arms to receive us. What is it 
that M. de Calonne wishes? Is it to be Minister of 
Foreign Affairs? A successful pacification of the 
troubles of Holland would render him more service, 
in such case, than the continuation of those troubles, 
which may kindle a general conflagration. I demand 
a categorical answer to the following question : Should 
it be proved to M. de Calonne that the Stadtholder is 
in reality come over to the side of France, or, which 
is the same thing, if he shall be obliged to come over, 
will he then be against us ? Has he any private inter- 
est which we counteract? Is it impossible he should 
explain himself? The chances certainly are all in his 
favor against M. de Breteuil, whom we have continu- 
ally hated and despised. Wherefore will he spoil his 
own game." 

I necessarily answered these questions in terms rath- 
er vague. I informed him that M. de Calonne, in 
what related to foreign affairs, continually pursued 
the line marked out by M. de Vergennes ; that the for- 
mer, far from coveting the place of the latter, would 
support him with all his power, if, which could not 
happen, he had need of his support; that a comptroller- 
general never could be desirous of anything but peace 
and political tranquillity; that whether M. de Calonne 
had or had not particular agents in Holland, was a 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 317 

fact of which I was ignorant (this Baron Reede posi- 
tively assured me was the case, and probably was the 
reason of his afterward conceiving the idea of making 
me their substitute) ; but that he would suppose me 
a madman, should I speak to him of such a thing ; and 
therefore if, as seemed very improbable, it were true 
that the Princess of Orange, on the recommendation 
of Baron Reede, should be capable of placing any con- 
fidence in me, it was necessary she should give this 
to be understood, through some medium with which 
I should be unacquainted, as, for example, by the way 
of Prussia; but it scarcely could be supposed that 
there would be any wish of substituting a person un- 
known in that walk to those who were already in the 
highest repute. 

Baron Reede persisted, and further added, not to 
mention that M. de Renneval could not long remain in 
his station, the parties would undoubtedly come to a 
better understanding when the Princess could speak 
with confidence ; that confidence was a sensation which 
she never could feel for this negotiator. In fine, he 
demanded, under the seal of profound secrecy, a con- 
ference with me, which I did not think it would be 
right to refuse; and his whole conversation perfectly 
demonstrated two things : the first, that his party sup- 
poses M. de Calonne is totally their enemy, and that 
he is the Minister of influence in this political conflict; 
and the second, that they believed him to be deceived. 
I am the more persuaded these suppositions are true, 
because he very strongly insisted even should I not 
receive any orders to repair to Holland, I should pass 
through Nimeguen, on my return to Paris; that, by 
the aid of the pledges of confidence which I should 
receive from him, I might sufficiently penetrate the 
thoughts of the Princess, so as to be able to render 
M. de Calonne a true report of the situation of affairs, 



3i8 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

and what might be the basis of a sincere and stable 
concihation. It is not, therefore, so much another 
person, instead of M. de Renneval, that they desire, 
as another Couette Toury, or some particular confi- 
dant of M. de Calonne. I shall conclude with two 
remarks that are perhaps important. 

1. My sentiments and principles concerning liberty 
are so known that I cannot be regarded as one of the 
Orange party. There is, therefore a real desire of 
accommodation at Nimeguen. And would not the 
success of this accommodation be of greater conse- 
quence to M. de Calonne than the machinations of 
M. de Breteuil? Wherefore will he not have the 
merit of the pacification, if it be necessary? And is it 
not in a certain degree necessary, in the present polit- 
ical state of Europe? 

2. The province of Friseland has ever been of the 
Anti-Stadtholder party, and it now begins to be on 
better terms with the Prince. Is it not because there 
has been the ill address of attacking the Stadth older 
in some part hostile to the provinces, and in which 
neither the nobility nor the regencies do, or can, wish 
to see the constitution absolutely overthrown? Has 
not the province of Holland drawn others too far 
into its particular measures? 

These two considerations, which I can support by a 
number of corroborating circumstances, perhaps are 
worthy the trouble of being weighed. I shall send 
you, by the next courier, the result of our conference; 
but, if there are any orders, information or directions, 
to be given me on the subject, it is necessary not to 
leave me in suspense; for my situation relative to 
Reede is embarrassing, since I dare neither to repel 
nor invite advances, which most assuredly I never 
shall provoke, and which, by the well-avowed state of 
the Cabinet of Potsdam, it was even impossible I 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 319 

should provoke, had I been possessed of so much 
temerity. 

Nolde has already written several letters to me 
from Courland, and mentions an important dispatch 
in cipher, which is to be sent by the next courier. But 
the evident result is that it is too late to save Cour- 
land; that everything which ought to have been pre- 
vented is done, or as good as done, and that the best 
physicians would but lose their time in prescribing 
for the incurable. The bearer of the letter, which oc- 
casioned the departure of Nolde is a merchant of 
Liebau, named Immermann. He has been charged 
with the negotiation of a loan in Holland and else- 
where, but, as it is said, has met with no success. It 
is supposed in the country that the Duke has throw^n 
impediments in its way. The Diet of Courland is to 
sit in January. It is worthy of remark that, for two 
years past, no delegate has been sent from Courland 
to Warsaw. 

Good information is said to be received that four 
corps of Russian troops have begun their march, pur- 
posely to approach the Crimea at the time that the 
Empress shall be there; and this not so much to in- 
spire the Turks with fear, as to remove the greatest 
and most formidable part of the military from the 
vicinage of Petersburg and the northern provinces of 
Russia; and especially from the Grand Duke, that 
there may not be any possibility of dangerous or vexa- 
tious events ; for the unbounded love of the Russians 
for their Grand Duke is apprehended. Yet, if such 
terrors are felt, wherefore undertake so useless a jour- 
ney, which will cost from seven to eight millions of 
rubles ? So useless, I say, according to your opinions, 
for, according to mine, the Empress believes she is 
going to Constantinople, or she does not intend to 
depart. 



320 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OE 

The troops are to be divided into four corps, of 
forty thousand men each. The General of these ar- 
mies will be Field-Marshal Potemkin, who will have 
the immediaate command of a corps of forty thousand 
men, and the superintendence of the others who are 
under him, to be led by General Elvut, Michaelssohn, 
and Soltikow. Prince Potemkin has under his par- 
ticular and independent orders sixty thousand irregu- 
lar troops in the Crimea. It is whispered he enter- 
tains the project of making himself King of the 
country, and of a good part of the Ukraine. 



LETTER LXII 

January /\th, 1787. 
My conference with Baron Reede is over. It con- 
tinued three hours and a half, and I have not the 
smallest remaining doubt concerning his intentions, 
after the confidence with which he spoke and the 
writings he showed me. He appears to be a good citi- 
zen, a constitutionaHst by principle, a friend of liberty 
by instinct, loyal and true from character and habit, 
and rather the servant of the Princess of Orange from 
personal affection than from the place he holds under 
her husband; a person desirous of ending tumultuous 
and disquieting debates, because in pacification he con- 
templates the good of his country, and that of the 
Princess, whose confidence he possesses. He is, fur- 
ther, a Minister of passable talents, who has abstained 
from making advances so long as he presumed our 
political management of the Court of Prussia would 
greatly influence its intervention, and that he might 
prevail on that Court to speak firmly. At present, 
feeling that the respect in which the Cabinet of 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 321 

Berlin was held is on the decline, and especially per- 
ceiving the King is disinterested in the affairs of 
the Stadtholder, because he has no interest in any- 
thing, he knocks immediately at the door of recon- 
ciliation. 

You may hold the following as probabilities : 

1. That the Princess, who will finally decide what 
the catastrophe is to be, at least in a very great meas- 
ure, is, to a certain point, desirous of accommodation, 
and to throw herself into the arms of France, because, 
in fine, she dreads risking a stake too great, to the 
injury of her family. 

2. That she imagines M. de Calonne to be the Min- 
ister who influences the mind of the King, and the 
personal enemy of her house. 

3. That successful attempts have been made to 
inspire her with very strong prejudices against his 
sincerity. 

4. That still she seeks his friendship, and is desir- 
ous of a correspondence with him, either direct or 
indirect; and of an impartial trusty friend in Holland, 
who should possess her confidence. 

5. That not only nothing is more possible than to 
retouch the regulations, without some modifications 
in which the influence of the Stadtholder cannot be 
repressed, but that this is what they expect, secretly 
convinced of its justice, and politically of its necessity; 
and that Baron Reede, as a citizen, and one of the 
first of the first rank, would be much vexed were they 
not retouched. 

The reason of the sincere return of the Princess of 
Orange, who indeed was never entirely alienated, is 
that she seriously despairs of being efficaciously served 
at Berlin. 

That of her opinion of the enmity of M. de Calonne 
is solely founded on his intimate connection with the 



Z22 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OE 

Rhingrave of Salm, which the latter exaggerates; 

and the inconsiderable discourse of M. de C , 

which really surpasses all imagination, and who is 
supposed to be the particular intimate of the Min- 
ister. 

Her prejudices against M. de Calonne arise, in a 
great part, from the calumny spread by one Vander- 
mey, who had formed I know not what enterprise on 
Bergue-Saint-Vinox (while this Minister was inten- 
dant of the province), in which he failed in such a 
manner as to cost the Stadtholder more than a hun- 
dred and sixty thousand florins; and, that he might 
excuse himself, he threw the whole blame on the 
opposition made by M. de Calonne. Add further, that 
all these causes of discontent, suspicion, and animos- 
ity are still kept in fermentation by a M. de Portail, 
the creature of M. de Breteuil, the which M. de Por- 
tail equally blames M. de Veyrac, M. de C , the 

Rhingrave of Salm, M. de Renneval, the Comte de 
Vergennes, and all that has been done, all that is done, 
and all that shall be done; but especially M. de 
Calonne, whom he depicts as the incendiary of the 
Seven Provinces, which, with all Europe besides, can- 
not be saved but by the meekness of M. de Breteuil, 
the gentle, the polished, the pacificator. 

With respect to the desire of the Princess to be on 
better terms with M. de Calonne, it is, I think, evident. 
Baron Reede is too circumspect and too artful to have 
taken such a step with me had he not been authorized. 
What follows will, perhaps, give you the genealogy of 
his ideas, which may sufficiently explain the whole epi- 
sode. He could easily know that I wrote in cipher. 
He is the intimate friend of Hertzberg. And for 
whom do I cipher? Whoever is acquainted with the 
coast and the progress of our affairs must know it can 
only be for M. de Calonne. On what principle do I 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 323 

act? The Duke of Brunswick, who has had many- 
conferences with him, cannot have left him in igno- 
rance that my views on this subject were all for peace. 
Having been totally disappointed through the igno- 
rance of Comte d'Esterno, which he affirms is complete 
in this respect, and w^hich must, therefore, on this sub- 
ject, redouble the native surliness of the Count; and 

by the stupidity of F , who painfully comes to 

study his lesson with him, and returning does not 
always repeat it faithfully; well convinced that the 
influence of Count Hertzberg is null, the affection of 
the King cooled, and the credit of his Cabinet trifling, 
the Baron has proposed to the Princess to make this 
experiment. 

With respect to her consent, whether express or 
tacit, and her serious determination to retouch the 
regulations, of this I have seen proofs in the letters of 
the Princess, and read them in the cipher of the Prin- 
cess ( for it will be well to know that she is very labor- 
ious, ciphers and deciphers herself, and with her own 
hand indites answers to all the writings of the contrary 
party), as I have done in those of Larrey and of 
Linden. 

I did not think myself justified in disregarding such 
overtures. After having said everything possible in 
favor of M. de Calonne, his views, projects, and con- 
nections (nor, I confess, do I believe that the manner 
in which I am devoted to him left me at this moment 
without address), after having treated as I ought the 
perfidious duplicity of M. de Breteuil and his agents, 
and after having uttered what I thought on the pru- 
dence of M. de Vergennes, the delicate probity of the 
King, and the undoubted politics of our Cabinet, which 
certainly are to render the Stadtholder subservient to 
the public good, and the independence of the United 
Provinces, but which cannot be to procure his expul- 
11 — ^Memoirs Vol. 5 



324 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

sion, it was agreed that I should write the day after 
to-morrow to demand a categorical answer from M. 
de Calonne, to know whether he wishes to begin a cor- 
respondence, direct or indirect, with the Princess ; and 
whether he consents that any propositions for accom- 
modation should be made him, for rendering which 
effectual his personal word should be accepted, when 
they shall be agreed on, and to an honorable pacifica- 
tion in behalf of the Stadtholder, suitable to the 
Sovereign. 

Baron Reede, on his part, who is cautious, and 
wished to appear to act totally from himself, wrote 
to the Princess to inform her that this step was taken 
at his instigation, and to demand her prompt and for- 
mal authority to act. We are to meet to-morrow on 
horseback in the park that we may reciprocally show 
each other our minutes ; it being certainly well under- 
stood that neither of us is to show the other more 
than the ostensible minutes we shall have prepared; 
and the whole is to depart on Saturday; because, said 
he, as not more than twelve or thirteen days were 
necessary for him to have an answer, this would be 
time enough, before yours should arrive, for us to 
form the proposed plan — at least, so far as to establish 
confidence. 

This is the faithful abstract of our conversation. 
With respect to the propositions, I had only to listen ; 
and as to the reflections, I have only to apologize. 
Should you be tempted to suppose I have been too for- 
ward in accepting the proposal to write, I beg the inci- 
dent may be weighed, and that I may be informed 
how it may be possible, at the distance of six hundred 
leagues, ever to be successful, if I am never to exceed 
my literal instructions. And after all, what new 
information have I given the Baron ? Who here, who 
is concerned in diplomatic affairs, has any doubt that 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 325 

I cipher? And on what subjects do men cipher? Is 
it philosophy, literature, or politics? Neither have I 
told of what kind my business is; and my constant 
formulae have been — I shall endeavor — I shall 

FIND SOME MODE — I SHALL TAK^ AN OPPORTUNITY 
OF LETTING M. DE CaLONNE KNOW, ETC. 

At present, send me orders either to recede or to 
advance; and in the latter case give me instructions; 
for I have only hitherto been able to divine, and that 
the more vaguely because, as you must easily feel, it 
was necessary I should appear to the Baron to be bet- 
ter informed than I really am, and consequently to 
ask fewer questions than I should otherwise have 
done. Ask yourself what advantages might I not 
obtain, were I not obliged to have recourse entirely 
to my own poor stock. 

In brief, what pledges do you desire of the sincerity 
of the Princess? What proofs of friendship will you 
afford her? What precautions do you require for the 
good conduct of the Stadtholder? What kind of 
restraints do you mean to lay him under? Will you 
in nothing depart from what was stipulated in the 
commission of the 27th of February, 1766? What 
are the modifications you propose? Must mediation 
be necessarily and formally accepted? Is it not pre- 
viously requisite that the provinces of Guelderland and 
Utrecht should send their troops into their respective 
quarters? Will the province of Holland then narrow 
her military line ? In this supposition, is there nothing 
to be feared from the Free Corps? and how may she 
answer for them ? What will be the determinate con- 
stitutional functions of the Stadtholder? What the 
relations of subordination and influence toward the 
deputy counselors ? What is the reformation intended 
to be made in the regulations? 

These, and a thousand other particulars, are of 



326 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OE 

consequence to me, if I am to be of any service in the 
business; otherwise I need none of them. But it is 
to me indispensable that you should immediately and 
precisely inform me how I ought to act and speak, 
how far I am to go, and where to stop. 

Be kind enough to observe that it is requisite this 
step should be kept entirely secret from Comte d'Es- 
terno, and that the intentions and proceedings of 
Baron Reede certainly do not merit that the Baron 
should be betrayed. 

A curious and very remarkable fact is that the Duke 
of Brunswick was the first who spoke to Baron Reede 
of the Prussian troops being put in motion, and asked 
him what effect he imagined it would have on the 
affairs of Holland if some regiments of cavalry were 
marched into, and should it be needful, if a camp 
were formed in, the principality of Cleves, w^hich 
might be called a camp of pleasure. Baron Reede 
replied this was a very delicate step, and it was scarcely 
possible the Cabinet of Versailles could remain an 
unconcerned spectator. Does the Duke desire to be 
Prime Minister, be the event what it may? And has 
he unworthily deceived me? Or was it only his in- 
tention to acquire from Baron Reede such information 
as might aid him to combat the proposition of Count 
Hertzberg? The Dutch Ambassador wished to per- 
suade me of the first. I imagine he is sincere ; yet, to 
own the truth, the public would echo his opinion, for 
the Duke is in high renown for deceit. But here I 
ought to oppose the testimony of Count Hertzberg 
himself, who owned that the idea was his own, and 
who bitterly repeated, more than once, " Ah ! had not 
the Duke deserted me ! " It is necessary to have heard 
the expression and the accent to form any positive 
opinion on the subject, which to a certain point may 
be v^rranted. 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 327 

January sth. 

I found Baron Reede at the rendezvous, In the same 
temper of mind; and, if possible, more fervent, more 
zealous. The only delicacy in acting he required was 
that I should not say he had written; in order, as he 
observed, that, should these advances still fail in their 
effect, a greater animosity might not be the result. 
He related to me an example of this kind, concerning 
the success of a confidential proceeding which hap- 
pened, some years ago, between himself and M. de 
Gaussin, at that time charge d'affaires from France 
to Berlin, and who, having described the business in 
terms too ardent to be accurate, receives a ministerial 
answer from M. de Vergennes, of the most kind and 
amicable complexion, which, passing directly to the 
Stadtholder, through the medium of the Cabinet of 
Berlin, was by no means found acceptable, as it might 
reasonably have been supposed it would have been; 
and that this produced an additional degree of cold- 
ness. True it is that the Prince of Orange had not, at 
that time, experienced the strength of his opponents; 
but this Prince is so passionate, and his mind is so 
perverse, that the Princess herself is obliged to take 
the utmost precautions when she has anything to 
communicate. 

I promised Baron Reede to act entirely as he wished ; 
yet have not thought it the less my duty to relate the 
whole affair, well convinced that people only of very 
narrow minds pique themselves on their policy; that 
M. de Calonne will think proper to know nothing of 
all this, except just as much as he ought to know; that 
in any case he will seem only to regard this overture 
as the simple attempt of two zealous men, who com- 
municated a project which they supposed was most 
probable of success. In reality, though it may be the 
most pressing interest of the Stadtholder to obtain 



2,2^ MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

peace, how can our alliance with Holland be more effec- 
tually strengthened than by the concurrence of the 
Stadtholder? And with respect to the individual in- 
terests of M. de Calonne, should we happen to lose 
M. de Vergennes, through age or ill health, who is 
there capable of disputing the place with him, who 
shall have promoted the commercial treaty between 
France and England, and have accomplished the 
pacification of Holland? Enough at present concern- 
ing the business in which I am engaged. Let us re- 
turn to Prussia. 



January 6th. 

Lieutenant-Colonel Goltz has long been on cold 
terms, and even has quarreled, with Bishopswerder. 
They had once been reconciled by the King, who felt 
that the first, being more firm of character, and more 
enterprising, had great advantages in the execution 
of affairs over the other, who was more the courtier, 
and more the humble servant of circumstances. To 
avoid domestic scandal, he has appointed M. von Han- 
stein, who possesses dignity, or rather haughtiness, 
and M. von Pritwitz, a man of mediocrity, and a vic- 
tim to the caprices of the late King, to be general 
aides-de-camp. Thus Bishopswerder, after he has 
done everything in his power to remove all who had 
more understanding than himself from about the per- 
son of the King, having accomplished his purpose and 
secured the Monarch solely to himself, knows not what 
he shall do with him. 

Count Briihl has found neither arrangements ready 
prepared, apartments furnished, nor persons placed in 
the service of the Prince Royal. The consequences 
were — ill-humor, a visit to Welner, not admitted, visit 
returned late, and by a card, rising discontent, which 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 329 

is encouraged by Bishopswerder, who suspects Welner 
to have been softened concerning the nomination of 
the two general aides-de-camp. 

A fact which appears very probable is that Welner, 
who is christened by the people The Little King, knows 
not how to perform three offices at once; and, as he 
foolishly believed he might yield to the eagerness of 
speculators, and has had the meanness to enjoy the des- 
picable flatteries of those who six months ago treated 
him like a lackey, his days have glided away in these 
perilous pastimes of vanity. Business has been 
neglected, everything is in arrear, and it is presumed 
that, when he shall have been sufficiently bandied by 
the intrigues of the malcontents, the ingratitude of 
those whom he shall have served, the arts of courtiers, 
and the snares of his own subalterns, his brain will be 
entirely turned. 

It is at length determined the capitation tax shall 
not be enforced. Thus it is withdrawn after having 
been announced! Without conviction! Without a 
substitute! What confusion! What forebodings! 
From the short prospect of the morning of the reign, 
how portentous are the steps of futurity! 

The sending an envoy to London ; which Court has 
not yet returned the compliment. 

Another envoy sent to Holland, who, in every step 
he has taken, has risked the reputation of his Sover- 
eign. It certainly was necessary either to act con- 
sistently, or totally to abstain from acting. 

The commission of inquiry on the administration of 
the finances, which has been productive of nothing 
but injustice and rigor toward individuals, without the 
least advantage to the public. 

Another commission to examine the conduct of Gen- 
eral Wartemberg, appointed with ostentation, and 
suspended in silence. 



330 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

' The suppression of the administration of tobacco 
and snuff, which must be continued. 

The project of the capitation tax, which is obHged 
to be withdrawn at the very moment it was to com- 
mence. 

The convocation of the principal merchants of Prus- 
sia and Silesia, which has generated nothing but dis- 
cussion, such as are proper to unveil the absurdity of 
the rulers, and the wretchedness of the people. 

Do not so many false steps, so many recedings, sup- 
pose administrators who have reflected but little, who 
are groping in the dark, and who are ignorant of the 
elements of the science of governing? 

Amid this series of follies, we must nevertheless re- 
mark a good operation, which is truly beneficial. I 
speak of that at present unlimited corn trade, and an 
annual exemption in behalf of that miserable Western 
Prussia, the amount of which I do not yet know. The 
domestic fermentation of the palace begins to be so 
great that it must soon become public. The agent of 
the wishes, or, more properly speaking, of the secret 
whims, is in opposition to Bishopswerder and Welner, 
who are on cold terms with Mademoiselle Voss, who 
is desirous that Madame Rietz should be discarded, 
who will agree that Mademoiselle Voss should be a 
rich mistress but not a wife. Among this multitude of 
opposing wills, where each, except the King, acts for 
himself, we may enumerate his Majesty's chamberlain, 
and the counselor of Mademoiselle Voss, Reuss; and 
the pacificator, the mediator, the counselor, the tem- 
porizer, the preacher. Count Arnim. 

The Sovereign, amid these rising revolts, weathers 
the storm to the best of his abilities. The jeweler 
Botson has laid a complaint against Rietz, which oc- 
casioned a quarrel that might have had consequences, 
had not the King recollected that ten years might be 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 331 

necessary to replace a confidant whom he might have 
discharged in a moment of anger. The birthday of the 
Count of Brandenburg was likewise a circumstance 
which the Rietz party made subservient to their in- 
terest. His Majesty sent for the mother to dinner, 
and peace was the restorer of serenity. 

The master of the horse, who was said to have lost 
his credit, appears to have risen from the dead. Ex- 
clusive of his yellow ribbon, which he hung over his 
shoulders on the last Court day, and which excited 
bursts of laughter from everybody, even from the 
Ministers, he requested his nephew might be created a 
count, and was answered with a ''So be it." The 
creating of a count is but a trifling evil, especially when 
so many have been created ; but never to possess a will 
of one's own is a serious reflection. 

Would you wish for a picture of the sinews of Gov- 
ernment, and active facilities of the Governors? Take 
the following feature: 

Various remonstrances had been made to the King 
finally to regulate the state of expenditure, and the 
salaries of his officers. He replied that he intended to 
keep a Court; and that, in order to regulate his ex- 
penses, he first desired to know the permanent state of 
his revenues, according as they should be collected and 
ascertained by his new financiers. After reflecting on 
various phases, in all of which was repeated the word 
ASCERTAINED, the Ministers, under whose charge the 
excise and the daily expenditure were, began to have 
their apprehensions. Hence followed a multitude of 
trifling taxes, ridiculous, hateful, and unproductive, 
which sprang up in a single night. Oysters, cards' 
and an increase on the postage of letters, on stamps, 
on wmes, eight groschen per ell on taffetas, thirty- 
three per cent on furs. They even went so far as to 
suppress the franchises of the Princes of the house- 



332 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

hold. Not one of these new imposts but was most 
gratuitously odious; for they retard what they are 
meant to effect, and are productive of nothing but a 
demonstration of the heavy stupidity of those who 
neither can procure money nor satisfy the public. 

Postscript. — I have received a voluminous dis- 
patch in cipher from Courland, the contents of which 
it is impossible I should at present send. I can only 
confirm former intelligence, that the chamberlain 
Howen, who is at present Burgrave, disposes of the 
province, and is wholly Russian; the circumstances by 
the next courier. 



LETTER LXIII 

January Sth, 1787. 
The following is the substance of the news from Cour- 
land, as authentic as can possibly be procured. 

The chamberlain Howen, an able man, the first and 
the only person of understanding in the country (for 
the chancellor Taube, who might otherwise counter- 
poise his influence, is destitute of mind and character) ; 
Howen, I say, is become Ober Burgrave, by the sudden 
death of the Prime Minister, Klopman. After this 
event followed a torrent of re-placings and de-plac- 
ings, in none of which you are interested, and con- 
cerning which it will be sufificient for you to know 
that every recommendation of the Duke has been abso- 
lutely rejected and contemned. The Baron of Mest- 
Machor, the Russian envoy by a formal and direct 
recommendation, occasioned the election to alight on 
Howen, who once was the violent enemy of the Rus- 
sians, by whom he had been carried off from Warsaw, 
where he resided as envoy from Courland, and 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 333 

banished into Siberia. Here he remained several 
years. By a concurrence of circumstances he is become 
Russian. It appears that the Cabinet of Petersburg 
has preferred the gaining of its purpose by gentle 
measures, and intends amicably to accomplish all its 
designs on Courland. Howen is in reality Duke of 
Courland, for he executes all the functions of the duke- 
dom, and converts or overawes all opponents. Woron- 
zow, Soltikow, Belsborotko, and Potemkin are absolute 
masters of Courland, as they are of Russia; with this 
only difference, that Potemkin, who possesses a Hbrary 
of mortgages and bank bills, who pays nobody, cor- 
rupts everybody, who subjects all by the energy of his 
will and the extent of his views, soars above Bels- 
borotko, who is politically his friend; above Woron- 
zow, who is capable but timid; and above Soltikow, 
who is wholly devoted to the Grand Duke. 

The Duke of Courland will probably return no more 
to his country, because he has ruined his affairs in 
Russia, is unable to alter anything w^hich has been 
done in his absence, is entangled in lawsuits, and by 
complaints laid against him without number, and be- 
cause the regency, which preserves a good understand- 
ing with the chiefs of the equestrian order, under the 
guidance of Howen, reigns with moderation, conform- 
able to the laws of the land, and brings down benedic- 
.tions on its administration; insomuch that the people, 
who were ready to revolt because they were threatened 
by, and already were suffering, famine, wish affairs 
to continue in their present train. It is to them of 
little import whether the government be or be not 
Russian, if misery be not entailed on them. There is 
no possibility of reversing a system thus stable. Some 
sixty considerable estates have been granted as fiefs 
or farms. All the vacant places have been bestowed on 
persons of the greatest influence, abroad and at home; 



334 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

so that we may say the party of the administration of 
Howen or of the Russians in Courland, includes every- 
body. Several millions must be expended to counter- 
poise such a preponderance; and, if to counterpoise 
were to vanquish, victory itself would not be worth 
expenses so great. 

One of the principal complaints against the Duke is 
the deterioration of Courland, which has been effected 
by the total impoverishment of the peasants and the 
lands, the ruin of the forests, and the exportation of 
the ducal revenues into foreign countries. But the 
grand crime, the crime not to be forgiven, is having 
displeased Russia. The Empress has been so enraged 
against him, by his anti-Russian proceedings in Cour- 
land, that she herself said : ''The King of France 
would not have injured me as the Duke of Courland 
has dared to do." She probably meant, bestowing 
Courland on Prussia. 

I cannot perceive how we can act better, in our 
present situation, than to wait with patience. Our 
young man will certainly have a place in his ow^n 
country. Should it be thought proper to bestow on 
him the title of consul, with leave to wear our uniform, 
and a captain's commission, from which he might de- 
rive respect, he asks nothing more; and we should 
possess an intelligent, zealous, and incorruptible sen- 
tinel, who, from so well-situated a post, might inform 
us of whatever was passing in the North, and aid us in 
what relates to commerce. 

I need not observe that great changes are not effected 
in a day. We may, however, depend upon a confirma- 
tion of the Maritime Company as a symptomatic anec- 
dote of importance. Struensee has acted in a pleasant 
manner. "Gentlemen," said he, to the merchants of 
Konigsberg and Prussia, ''nothing can be more excel- 
lent than a free trade; but it is very just that you 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 335 

should buy all the salt in our warehouses." "True." 
''Very good. You must, therefore, give us security for 
one million, two hundred thousand crowns, as well as 
pay a hundred and twenty thousand crowns annually 
to the proprietors, in return for the ten per cent for 
which we are accountable; for public good will not 
admit an injury to be committed on private right." 
'True." "Very good. And, for the same reason, you 
must pay five per cent, which has been legally granted 
on the new shares." "True." "Very excellent, gentle- 
men. But who are to be your securities ? Or, at least, 
where are your funds ?" "Oh, we will form a com- 
pany!" "A company, gentlemen! One company is 
as good as another. Why should not the King give the 
preference to the company that actually exists?" 

All projects for the freedom of trade will, like this, 
go off in fiimo; and, what is still more fatal, if possible, 
conclusions will be drawn, from the ignorance of the 
present administration, in favor of the impossibilty of 
changing former regulations. Such are Kings without 
a will ; such is the present, and such will he live and die ! 
The other was all soul ; this is all body. The symptoms 
of his incapacity increase with aggravation. I shall 
have continual occasion to repeat nearly the same 
words, the same opinions, the same remarks. But 
here, however, may be added, what I think a fact of 
weight, which is that one of the causes of the torpor of 
interior administration is the misunderstanding which 
reigns in the Ministry. Four Ministers are in opposi- 
tion to two, and the seventh remains neuter. Mes- 
sieurs Gaudi and Werder, who keep shifting the helm 
of finance, are counteracted by Messieurs Heinitz, 
Arnim, Schulemburg, and Blumenthal. The former of 
the last four is accused of attempting to add the de- 
partment of the mines to that of the finances. In the 
meantime the expediting of business continues with 



336 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

Welner, and the impulse of influence with Bishops- 
werder. 

The latter, either sincerely or insidiously, has become 
the associate of the plan to bring Prince Henry again 
into power, at least in military affairs. The Prince, 
for several years, has not been present at the ma- 
noeuvres. It is affirmed that he not only will be this 
year, but that he will be made a kind of inspector 
general. The negotiation is carried on, with great 
secrecy, by General Moellendorf and the favorite. 

The marriage of Mademoiselle Voss is again in 
report. Certain it is that every species of trinkets has 
been purchased, every kind of preparation has been 
made, and that a journey is rumored. Most of these 
circumstances are kept very secret; but I am well as- 
sured of their truth, because I have them from the 
Rietz family, who are very much interested in pre- 
venting the union being accomplished, under certain 
formalities, and who consequently are very actively on 
the watch. But I know not what form they will bestow 
on this half -conjugal, half-concubine state. Yesterday, 
however, when I supped with the King, I had ocular 
demonstration there was no longer any restraint laid 
on speaking together in public. 

The King, at supper, asked me, *'Who is one M. de 
Laseau?" "Du Saux, perhaps, Sire." ''Yes, Du 
Saux." "A member of our academy of inscriptions." 
"He has sent me a large work on gaming," *'Alas! 
Sire, you masters of the world only have the power of 
effecting the destruction of gaming. Our books will 
accomplish but little." "But he has embarrassed me 
by paying me a compliment which I by no means 
merit." "There are many, Sire, which you are too 
prudent to be in haste to merit." "He has congratu- 
lated me on having abolished the Lotto ; I wish it were 
true, but it is not." "A wish from Your Majesty will 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 337 

effect much." "I am some thanks in your debt, on this 
subject, for this is one of the good counsels you gave 
me in a certain writing." (I made a low bow.) ''But 
you must excuse me for a time. There are funds 
assigned on that vile Lotto; the military school, for 
example." "Fortunately, Sire, a momentary defi- 
ciency of fifty thousand crowns is not a thing to inspire 
the richest King on earth, in ready money, with any 
great apprehensions." "True; but agreements — " 
"Will not be violated when the parties are reimbursed, 
or have any proportionate remuneration. Surely, since 
despotism has so often been employed to do ill, it might 
for once effect good." "Oh, oh! then you are some- 
what reconciled to despotism." "Who can avoid being 
reconciled to it, Sire, where one head has four hundred 
thousand arms?" He laughed with a simple kind of 
grin, was informed the comedy was going to begin, 
and here ended our conversation. You perceive, there 
is still some desire of being praised in this lethargic 
soul. 

Postscript. — Launay this night departed incognito. 
I imagine you will give very serious offense to the 
Cabinet of Berlin if you do not prevent him going to 
press, as is his intention. 



LETTER LXIV 

January i^th, 1787. 
I BELIEVE I have at length discovered what the Em- 
peror was hatching here. He has, sans circumlocution, 
proposed to suffer Prussia to appropriate the re- 
mainder of Poland to itself, provided he might act in 
like manner by Bavaria. Fortunately, the bait was too 
gross. It was perceived he offered the gift of a country 



338 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

which he had not the power to bestow, and the inva- 
sion of which would be opposed by Russia, that he 
might, without impediment, seize on another which 
had been refused him, and of which, if once acquired, 
he never after could have been robbed. Your Ambas- 
sador, probably, has discovered this long before me, 
from whom you will have learned the circumstances. 
To him the discovery has been an affair of no diffi- 
culty; for confidence is easily placed, in politics, when 
it is determined that the proposal shall be rejected; 
besides that it is a prodigious step in advance to have 
the right of conferring with Ministers, from whom 
that may be divined which is not asked. For my 
own part, I can only inform you intrigues and machina- 
tions are carried on, and the very moment I discover 
more, I shall consider it as my duty to send you intel- 
ligence. But I do not suppose I can give you any new 
information of this kind. I have only promised to sup- 
ply you with the current news of the Court and the 
country. The rest is out of my sphere. I want the 
necessary means effectually to arrive at the truth. God 
grant it never should enter the head of the Emperor 
to allure the King of Prussia more adroitly, and to 
say to him, ''Suffer me to take Bavaria, and I will 
suffer you to seize on Saxony; by which you acquire 
the finest country in Germany, a formidable frontier, 
and near two millions of subjects; and by which, in 
a word, you will extend, round, and consolidate your 
dominions. Neither shall we have any great difficul- 
ties to combat. All of them may be obviated by 
making the Elector King of Poland. The Saxon 
family possess the mania of royalty; and even should 
the kingdom become hereditary, wherein would be the 
inconvenience? It is good, or at least it very soon will 
be good, to possess a strong barrier against Russia." 
Should they ever conceive such a project, it would 






BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 339 

be executed, with or without the consent of all Europe. 
But this they have not conceived. One is too incon- 
sistent, the other too incapable; and after some dis- 
putes, more or less serious, the Emperor will filch a vil- 
lage, perhaps, from Bavaria, and the King of Prussia 
continue to crouch under his nullity. 

The misfortune is that to treat him thus is to treat 
him with indulgence. The following is a fact entirely 
secret, but certain; and which, better than all those 
my preceding dispatches contain, will teach you to 
judge the man. Within this fortnight he has paid a 
debt of a million of crowns to the Emperor. And what 
was this debt? The Empress-Queen had lent the 
Prince Royal, now King of Prussia, a million of 
florins; which by accumulating interest, had become a 
million of crowns. And when? In the year 1778, 
during the Bavarian campaign, under the fatigues of 
which they imagined themselves certain that Frederick 
II. would sink. Thus was Frederick William base 
enough to accept the money of Austria, which he has 
had the imbecility to repay. He had not the sense to 
say, "My SUCCESSOR WILL REPAY YOU." No; he sanc- 
tions the act of the Imperial Court when lending money 
to the Princes Royal of Prussia. He imagines he has 
fulfilled his duties as a sovereign when he has had the 
honesty to pay his debts as an individual. 

The sum total of these debts amounted to nine mil- 
lions of crowns; and, though I do not indeed suppose 
that the agents are any losers, it is nevertheless true 
that the first months of his reign will cost Prussia 
thirty-six millions, exclusive of common expenses, 
gifts, gratifications, pensions, etc. The extraordina- 
ries of the first campaign, in which it was necessary to 
remount all the cavalry, did not cost Frederick II. 
more than five millions, or five millions and a half, of 
crowns. 



340 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

I have not yet depicted the Monarch as a warrior; 
the trade gives him the spleen, its minutice fatigue him, 
and he is weary of the company of generals. He goes 
to Potsdam, comes on the parade, gives the word, dines 
and departs. He went on Wednesday to the house of 
exercise at Berlin, uttered a phrase or two, bade the 
troops march, and vanished. And this is the house in 
which Frederick H., loaded with fame and years, regu- 
larly passed two hours daily, in the depth of winter, 
in disciplining, grumbling, cursing, praising, in a word, 
in keeping the tormented troops in perpetual action, 
who still were transported to see the Old One, for that 
was the epithet they gave him, at their head. 

But a more important point is the new military regu- 
lations, which have been conceived, planned, approved, 
and, as it is said, are going to be printed, without 
either having been communicated to Prince Henry or 
the Duke of Brunswick. The tendency of this new 
plan is nothing less than the destruction of the army. 
The seven best regiments are converted into light 
troops, and among others that of Wunsch. I am yet 
unacquainted with the particulars of the changes made, 
but, according to the opinion of General Moellendorf, 
had Lascy himself been their promoter they would 
have been just as they are. The worthy Moellendorf 
is humbled, discouraged, afflicted. All is under the 
direction of Goltz, who is haughty, incapable of dis- 
cussion, and who holds it as a principle that the army 
is too expensive, and too numerous, in times of peace. 
He is perpetually embroiled with Bishopswerder, often 
obliged to attend to business of this kind, and in some 
manner under the necessity of interfering in affairs 
in the conduct of which he is not supposed to be equally 
well versed. 

The Duke of Brunswick does not come. He replied 
to some person who had complimented him on his 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 341 

promotion, and who, in a letter, had supposed he was 
soon expected to arrive at Berhn, that he had been 
exceedingly flattered by receiving a title, which, how- 
ever, he did not think he had merited; that he never 
had, and never should, come to Berlin, unless sent for ; 
and of this he saw no immediate prospect. I have very 
good information that he is exceedingly disgusted, and 
will doubtless be so more than ever, should the con- 
stitution of the army be reversed without his opinion 
being asked, who is the only field marshal of Prussia. 

I do not scruple to affirm that, by the aid of a thou- 
sand guineas, in case of need, the whole secrets of the 
Cabinet of Berlin might be perfectly known. The 
papers which continually are spread upon the tables of 
the King might be read and copied by two clerks, four 
valets de chamhre, six or eight footmen, and two pages, 
the women not included. For this reason the Emperor 
has an exact and daily journal of the proceedings of 
the King, and w^ould be acquainted with all his pro- 
jects, were he really to project anything. 

Never did kingdom announce a more speedy decline. 
It is sapped on every side at once. The means of re- 
ceipt are diminished, the expenses are multiplied, prin- 
ciples are despised, the public opinion sported with, the 
army enfeebled, the very few people who are capable 
of being employed are discouraged. Those even are 
disgusted, to please whom all others have been 
offended. Every foreigner of merit is kept at a dis- 
tance, and the King is surrounded by the vulgar and 
the vile, that he may be thought to reign alone. This 
fatal frenzy is the most fruitful cause of all the evil 
which at present exists, and of that which is preparing 
for the future. 

Were I to remain here ten years longer, I might 
furnish you with new particulars, but could not draw 
any new consequence. The man is judged; his crea- 



342 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

tures are judged; the system is judged. No change, 
no possible improvement, can take place, so long as 
there shall be no first Minister. When I say no change, 
I do not, by any means, wish you to understand no 
person shall be dismissed. Sand shall succeed to sand, 
but sand it still shall be, and nothing better, till piles 
shall be sunken on which a foundation may be laid. 
What, therefore, should I do here henceforth? I can 
be of no use; yet nothing but utility — great, direct, 
immediate utility — could reconcile me to the extreme 
indecency of the present amphibious existence which 
has been conferred upon me, should this existence be 
prolonged. 

I am obliged to repeat that my abilities, what I 
merit and what I am worth, ought at present to be 
known to the King, and to the Ministry. If I am capa- 
ble of nothing, and merit nothing, I am, while here, a 
bad bargain. If I am of some worth, and may effect 
some good purpose, if nine months (for nine months 
will have passed away before I shall return), if, I say, 
a subaltern test of nine months, most painful in itself, 
and during which I have encountered a thousand 
and a thousand impediments without once being aided, 
have enabled me to acquire some knowledge of men, 
some information, some sagacity, without enumerat- 
ing the precious contents of my portfolio, I am, then, 
in duty bound to myself to ask, and either to obtain 
a place or to return to a private station, which will 
neither be so fatiguing to body nor mind, nor so 
barren of fame. 

For these reasons I undisguisedly declare, or rather 
repeat, I cannot remain here, and I request my return 
may be formally authorized ; whether it be intended to 
employ me hereafter or to restore me to myself. I 
certainly shall not revolt at any kind of useful occupa- 
tion. My feelings are not superannuated, and though 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 343 

my enthusiasm may be benumbed, it is not extinct. I 
have in my sensations at this moment a strong proof 
to the contrary. The day which you inform me you 
have fixed for the convocation of the notables I shall 
regard as one of the most glorious days of my life. 
This convocation, no doubt, will soon be followed by a 
national assembly, and here I contemplate renovating 
order, which shall give new life to the monarchy. I 
should think myself loaded with honors were I but 
the meanest secretary of that assembly, the project of 
which I had the happiness to communicate, and to 
which there is so much need that you should appertain, 
or rather that you should become its soul. But to re- 
main here, condemned to the rack, in company with 
fools, obliged to sound and to wade through the foetid 
meanderings of an administration, each day of which 
is signalized by some new trait of cowardice and 
stupidity, this is beyond my strength; for I perceive 
no good purpose it can effect. Send me, therefore, 
my recall, and let me know whether I am to pass 
through Holland. 

There, for example, I would accept a secret commis- 
sion; because pacification there demands, as an indis- 
pensable preliminary, a secret agent, who can see and 
speak the truth, and who is capable of captivating con- 
fidence. I do not believe foreign politics afford any op- 
portunity of rendering greater service to France. I 
fear, since it is necessary I should confess my fears, we 
rely too much on the ascendency which the aristocracy 
has gained, of late years, over the Stadtholdership. I 
think I perceive the system of the patriots has not ac- 
quired any decided superiority, except in the province 
of Holland, which does not disturb its co-estates, or at 
least inasmuch as it excites their animosities. Nay, at 
Amsterdam itself, the very hotbed of anti-Stadtholder 
sentiments, was not the Grand Council though the first 



344 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

to rise against the concession of the Scotch brigade to 
England, the first to plead in favor of military convoys, 
and to demand the dismission of the Duke Louis of 
Brunswick? Was it not also the first to vote for a 
separate peace with England, and for the acceptance 
of the mediation of Russia? Was not its admiralty, 
several of the members of which depend on the regency, 
highly involved in the plot which occasioned the fail- 
ure of the Brest expedition ? How can it be otherwise ? 
The Sovereign Council is only in possession of an im- 
aginary authority. It is the burgomasters, who are 
annually changed; or even the president of the burgo- 
masters, who is changed once in three months; or 
rather, in fine, such among the burgomasters as gain 
some influence of understanding or character over the 
others, who issue those orders that direct the impor- 
tant vote of the city of Amsterdam, in the Assembly 
of the States. When we recollect that the college of 
sheriffs, old and new, from which the burgomasters are 
elected, contains a great number of English partisans, 
and depends in some manner on the Stadtholder, who 
chooses those sheriffs, I know not how we can depend 
upon the future system of that city. 

It is for such reasons that I cannot understand why 
it should not be for our interest to bring these disputes 
to a conclusion, if we do not wish to annul the Stad- 
tholdership, which cannot be annulled without giving 
birth to foreign and domestic convulsions. And is it 
possible we should wish for war? We ought not, 
doubtless, to suffer the family of the Stadtholder to 
remain possessed of legislative power, in the three pro- 
vinces of Guelderland, Utrecht, and Over-Yssel, by 
what is called the rules of the regency; for this, added 
to the same prerogative in the provinces of Zealand 
and Groningen, inclines the balance excessively in his 
favor. Neither can it be doubted but that the power of 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 345 

the Stadtholder ought to be subservient to the legisla- 
tive power of the States. It is of equal importance to our 
system, or rather to the regular system of foreign 
politics, that the legislative power of the States should 
be directed and maintained by the uniform influence of 
the people. But the pretensions and passions of in- 
dividuals, and the private interests of the members of 
an aristocracy, have, in all countries, too often been sup- 
posed the public interest ; which is peculiarly true here, 
where the union of the Seven Provinces was formed 
in troublesome times, and by the effect of chance, since 
the people did not think of erecting a republican gov- 
ernment till the sovereignty has first been refused by 
France and England. Hence it resulted that the 
regents and the people never were agreed concerning 
the limitation of their rights and reciprocal duties. The 
regents have necessarily labored to render themselves 
independent of the people; and the people, supposing 
themselves absolute, since they never consigned over 
the sovereignty to the regents, nor have had any 
interest to support them, have on all critical occasions 
counteracted their attempts. This was the origin of 
the Stadtholder party, and that of fluctuation w^hich 
has happened between the despotic will of an indi- 
vidual, the perfidious tergiversations of the wavering, 
the feeble aristocratical colleges, and the impetuosity 
of an enraged populace. Should ever a link of union 
exist between the citizens and the regents, the despot- 
ism of the Stadtholder and the caprices of the oli- 
garchy will have an end ; but, while no such union does 
exist, while the mode in which the people influence 
the Government remains undetermined, so long musli' 
the system of France remain insecure. 

Preserve the confederate constitution, between the 
provinces and the republican form, in its reciprocal 
state. Or, to reduce the proposition to the most simple 



346 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

terms, instead of the odious and illegal recom- 
mendations OF THE STADTHOLDER, OR OF A BURGO- 
MASTER, SUBSTITUTE THE REGULAR AND SALUTARY 
RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE CITIZENS. Such should 

be the palladium of the republic; such the pursuit of 
our politics. 

This restriction rather demands a concurrence of cir- 
cumstances than the shock of contention. And shall 
we be able to effect it by those acts of violence which 
are attributed to us, even though they should not be 
ours, or by increasing fermentation on one part, and on 
the other suspicion? Have we not made our influence 
and our power sufficiently felt ? Is it not time to show 
that we wish only for the abolition of the Stadtholder 
regulations, and not that of the Stadtholdership ? And 
how shall we conclude without making the conclusion 
tragical, since it is not in human wisdom to calculate 
all possible consequences, if we cannot effectually per- 
suade the persons at Nimeguen that such is our real 
and sole system. 

Such is the rough draft of my profession of faith, 
relative to the affairs of Holland. From what I have 
said, and according to these principles, which I shall 
more circumstantially develop, if required, in a written 
memorial, it may be estimated whether I can or cannot 
be useful in the country; further supposing me pos- 
sessed of local information, which I shall with facility 
acquire. 



LETTER LXV 

January i6th, 1787. 
In THE Opinion of those who know that revolutions 
effected by arms are not often those that overturn 
States, it is truly a revolution in the Prussian mon- 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 347 

archy to behold an example for the first time of a 
titled mistress, who is on the point of sequestrating the 
King, of forming a distinct Court, of exciting cabals 
which shall be communicated from the palace to the 
LEGIONS, and of arranging affairs, favorites, adminis- 
tration, and grants, after a manner absolutely unknown 
to these cold and phlegmatic countries. The moment 
of the disgrace, and the consequent elevation of Ma- 
demoiselle Voss approaches. Hence intrigues, sar- 
casms, opinions, and conjectures, or rather predictions. 
Amid this mass of suppositions, true or false, the fol- 
lowing is what I can collect, which seems to have 
most probability. My translation is according to the 
text of one of the former friends of Mademoiselle 
Voss, to whom she has opened her heart. 

This new Joan of Arc, on whose head devotion 
would invoke the nuptial benediction, has been per- 
suaded that it is her duty to renounce marriage, and 
sacrifice herself, first to her country; in the second 
place, to her lover's glory ; and, finally, to her family's 
advantage. The country, say her advisers, will gain a 
protectress, will remove covetous and perverse coun- 
selors ; the glory of the Monarch will not be tarnished 
by a double marriage; and her family will not be ex- 
posed to the danger of beholding her a momentary 
princess, and presently afterward exiled to an old cas- 
tle, with some trifling pension. They afiirm favor will 
be the more rapturous should rapture not be secured by 
the rites of Hymen, and that the instant this favor 
commences she will rain gold on her relations, with 
dignities and gratuities of every kind. Religious 
motives have been added to motives of convenience. It 
has been demonstrated that there was less evil in con- 
descension than in contracting a pretended marriage 
while the former one remained in full force. At length 
it was concluded that this victim to her country's 



348 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

GOOD should be taken to Potsdam and offered up at 
Sans Souci. A house has been prepared, sumptuously 
furnished, say some, and simply, according to 
others, and at which are all the paraphernalia of a 
favorite. 

An anecdote, truly inconceivable, which requires 
confirmation, and which I am still averse to believe, 
is circulated : that the King prostitutes his daughter, 
the Princess Frederica, to be the companion of his 
mistress. 

Mademoiselle Voss has a kind of natural wit, some 
information, is rather willful than firm, and is very 
obviously awkward, which she endeavors to disguise 
by assuming an air of simplicity. She is ugly, and that 
even to a degree; and her only excellence is the good- 
ness of her complexion, which I think rather wan than 
white, and a fine neck, over w^hich she threw a double 
handkerchief the other day, as she was leaving Prince 
Henry's comedy to cross the apartments, saying to the 
Princess Frederica, ^' I must take good care of them, 
for it is after these they run." Judge what must be 
the manners of princesses who can laugh at such an ex- 
pression. It is this mixture of eccentric licentiousness 
(which she accompanies with airs of ignorant inno- 
cence) and vestal severity, which, the world says, has 
seduced the King. Mademoiselle Voss, who holds it 
ridiculous to be German, and who is tolerably well ac- 
quainted with the English language, affects the Anglo- 
maniac to excess, and thinks it a proof of politeness not 
to love the French. Her vanity, which has found itself 
under restraint when in company with some amiable 
people of that nation, hates those it cannot imitate, 
more especially because her sarcasms sometimes are re- 
turned with interest. Thus, for instance, the other 
day, I could not keep silence when I heard an excla- 
mation, " Oh. Heavens ! when shall I see, when shall 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 349 

we have an English play? I really should expire with 
rapture!" *Tor my part, Mademoiselle," said I, 
dryly, *' I rather wish you may not, sooner than you 
imagine, stand in need of French play." All those who 
began to be offended by her high airs smiled, and 
Prince Henry, who pretended not to hear her, laughed 
aloud. Her face was suffused wath blushes, and she 
did not answer a word; but it is easy to punish, diffi- 
cult to correct. 

She has hitherto declared open war against the mys- 
tics, and detests the daughters of the chief favorite, 
who are maids of honor to the Queen. 

But, as amid her weaknesses she is transported by 
devotion even to superstition, nothing may be depended 
on for futurity. Should ambition succeed primary sen- 
sations, it is to be presumed her family will govern the 
State. At the head of this family stands Count Finck- 
enstein, whose tranquillity would not be disturbed by 
the fall of the empire, but w^ho would with inexpres- 
sible joy contemplate his children enacting great parts. 
Next in rank is Count Schulemburg; who has newly 
been brought into the Ministry; an active man, for- 
merly even too busy, but who seems to perceive that 
those who keep most in the background become the 
principal figures. This family preserves an inveterate 
hatred against Welner, who formerly carried off or 
seduced one of their relations, who is at present his 
wife. To these we may add the president Voss, the 
brother of the beauty; who at least possesses that 
spirit of calculation, and that German avidity, by 
which such persons profit whenever fortune falls in 
their way. Should Mademoiselle Voss render her 
situation in any degree subservient to such purposes, 
she must, while at Potsdam, prepare the dismission of 
Bishopswerder and Welner, or render them useless ; for 
it is more the mode in Germany to dispense with ser- 



350 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

vice than to dismiss. She herself may possibly be 
ill-guided, and may confide in the first who shall hap- 
pen to be present, for she is indiscreet. She depends 
on the constancy of her lover; for she is yet inexperi- 
enced in the gratitude of mankind. Having never 
yet obliged anybody, she never yet has rendered any- 
one ungrateful. 

Should this happen, afifairs will remain in their pres- 
ent state, or grow worse. The King will shut himself 
up at Potsdam; whence, however, he will frequently 
make excursions to Berlin, because he has contracted a 
habit of restlessness, and because his favorite seraglio 
will always be at a brothel. He will then be totally 
idle, will tolerate rapaciousness, and, as much as he is 
able, hasten the kingdom's ruin, toward which it tends 
as rapidly as present circumstances and the vis inerticB 
of the German character will allow; which does not 
permit madmen to commit anything more than follies, 
and preserves men from the destructive delirium of the 
passions. 

Add to this, the Emperor dares attempt nothing, is 
consistent in nothing, concludes nothing, that he ap- 
proaches his end, and that all his brothers are pacific. 
I should not be astonished were the hog of Epicurus, 
who, at least, is not addicted to pomp, and conse- 
quently will not of himself ruin the Treasury, to ac- 
quire, thanks to circumstances and interested men, a 
kind of glory during his reign. 

Military regulations are again mentioned. The regi- 
ments of the line are not to be ruined, but it seems 
'there is an intention to form a certain number of bat- 
talions of chasseurs, who, under good regulations, may 
become useful; and this, indeed, was the design of 
Frederick H. Nothing yet can be affirmed on the sub- 
ject, except that it is exceedingly strange that Frederick 
William should imagine himself able to effect any re- 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 351 

form, the economical part excepted, in the mihtary 
system and in the army of Frederick II. 

Prince Henry probably will have some influence in 
the army. His name stands the first on the list, al- 
though a field marshal has been appointed. The King 
sent him the list yesterday to assure him it was so, 
by M. von Goltz himself. They have given the child 
a bauble. What his military influence is to be must 
remain a secret till the appearance of the new regula- 
tions. He is often visited by the general aides-de-camp. 
Whether this is or is not known to the King is doubt- 
ful, and, if known, it is evident deceit only is meant, 
which, indeed, is a very fruitless trouble. He has no 
plan contrary to the politics of the kingdom. I do not 
say of the Cabinet, for Cabinet there is none. Indeed, 
he has no plan whatever. 

Count Goertz is recalled, of which Count Hertzberg 
was this morning ignorant. There cannot be a better 
proof that there is no desire to interfere in the affairs 
of Holland, or not openly; nor simply to expose the 
nation to a war, to promote the interests of the Stadt- 
holder. Of this, unfortunately, the House of Orange 
is not persuaded, but of the contrary, if I may judge 
from the letter of the Princess, which came by the 
courier of this morning, a part of which I read as soon 
as it was deciphered. It is in this point of view that 
my journey to Nimeguen, under a borrowed name, and 
with secret authority, known only to her and me, may 
become useful. In this same letter I have read that the 
patriots are endeavoring to effect a loan of sixteen 
millions of florins, at three per cent, although the pro- 
vince of Holland has never given more than two and 
a half per cent, and that they find difficulty in procur- 
ing the money. 

There are three Bishops here: the Bishop of War- 
mia, the Bishop of Culm (who is of the House of 



352 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OE 

Hohenzollern), and the Bishop of Paphos. The first, 
whom I mentioned to you in my account of the King's 
journey into Prussia, is the same whom Frederick II., 
robbed of near eighty thousand crowns per annum, 
by reducing the revenues of his bishopric to twenty- 
four thousand from a hundred thousand crowns; for 
such was its value previous to the partition of Poland. 
The Monarch one day said to him : " I have not, in 
my own right, any great claims on Paradise; let me 
entreat you to take me in under your cloak." '' That 
I would willingly," replied the prelate, *' if your 
Majesty had not cut it so short." He is a man of 
pleasure and of the world, and who is only acquainted 
with the fine arts, without other views or projects, 
religious or political. 

The second has been in the service of France. He 
has the rage of preaching upon him and of being elo- 
quent; and the desire of doing good; but as he has also 
the rage of running in debt, and getting children, his 
sermons make no proselytes, and his charities relieve 
no distress. The latter is a suffragan of Breslau, for- 
merly a great libertine, and a little of an atheist; at 
present impotent and superannuated. 

These three prelates, who are to be reinforced by the 
Bishop of Lujavia, and the new coadjutor, the Prince 
of Hohenloe, Canon of Strasburg, will hold no council ; 
nor will they justify the fears the orthodox Lutherans, 
and all Saxony, who suppose the corner stone of the 
Protestant religion to be laid here, have entertained 
concerning the inclination of the King to popery. The 
one came to obtain the order of the Black Eagle, and 
is gratified; the other for a benefice, vacant by the 
death of the Abbe Bathiani; the Prince Bishop of 
Warmia for a money loan, at two per cent, which may 
be sufficient to satisfy his creditors. 

Prince Henry, after having given a comedy and a 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 353 

grand supper, concluded the banquet with a ball, which 
began gloomily enough, and so continued. While some 
were dancing in one room, others were gambling at 
the Lotto in another. The King neither danced nor 
gambled; his evening was divided between Made- 
moiselle Voss, and the Princess of Brunswick. He 
spoke a word to M. von Grotthaus, but not a syllable 
to anybody else. Most of the actors and spectators de- 
parted before him. The Bishop of Warmia and the 
Marquis of Lucchesini were not so much as remarked. 
I would have defied the most penetrating observer to 
have suspected there was a King in company. Languor 
and restraint were present, but neither eagerness nor 
flattery. He retired at half past twelve, after Made- 
moiselle Voss had departed. It is too visible that she 
is the soul of his soul, and that the soul which 
is thus wrapt up in a covering so coarse is very 
diminutive. You must expect this continual repeti- 
tion; the place of the scene may change, the scene itself 
never. 

Postscript. — The news of the recall of Goertz is 
false; and, from the manner in which it was conveyed 
to me, either Comte d'Esterno wished to lay a snare 
for me, or had had a snare laid for himself. I am ac- 
quainted with circumstances which make me believe it 
possible the negotiation should again be resumed. I 
have not time to say more. 

The Duke of Brunswick is sent for, and will be here 
in a few days. 

Count Wartensleben, who has for five months been 
forgotten, yesterday morning was presented with be- 
tween five and six hundred crowns per annum, and 
the command of the regiment of Roemer at Branden- 
burg. 



354 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 



LETTER LXVI 

January igth, 1787. The day of my departure. This will not 
be sent off sooner than to-morrow, but it ought to arrive 
before me. 

Count Schmettau, the complaisant gentleman of the 
Princess Ferdinand, the indisputable father of two 
of her children, had eight years quitted the army, 
which he left in the midst of war, angered by a disdain- 
ful expression from Frederick IL, and holding the rank 
of captain. He has lately been appointed a colonel, with 
the pay of fifteen hundred crowns per annum. The 
nomination has displeased the army, and particularly 
the General Aide-de-camp Goltz, who had been in har- 
ness five-and-twenty years, and still only enjoys the 
rank of lieutenant colonel. Count Schmettau has 
served with honor, has received many wounds, nor 
does he want intelligence, particularly in the art of 
fortification. He has drawn a great number of plans 
which are much esteemed. A military manual is also 
mentioned with praise, in which he teaches all that is 
necessary to be done from the raw recruit to the field 
marshal. In fine, this infringement on rank might 
have been supportable, but there has been another 
which has excited the height of discontent. 

The commission of one Major Schenkendorff, the 
governor of the second son of the King, who gives up 
his pupil, has been antedated, by which he leaps over 
six-and-thirty heads. This dangerous expedient, which 
Frederick IL, never employed but on solemn occasions, 
and in favor of distinguished persons, and which his 
successor had before practiced in behalf of Count War- 
tensleben, does but tend to spread incertitude over the 
reality of military rank, and to be destructive of all 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 355 

emulation. It is, besides, infinitely dangerous when 
employed by a feeble prince, absurd when resorted to at 
the commencement of his reign, and must finally de- 
prive the Monarch himself of one of his greatest 
resources, the point of honor. 

He has deposited five hundred thousand crowns in 
the provincial treasury, and has sent the transfer to 
Mademoiselle Voss. Thus happen what may, she will 
always have an income of a thousand a year, besides 
diamonds, plate, jewels, furniture, and a house that has 
been purchased for her at Berlin; which is a pleasure 
house for she does not intend to inhabit it. Her 
royal lover has himself imagined all these delicate atten- 
tions, and the consequence is that the most disinterested 
of mistresses has managed her affairs better than the 
most artful of coquettes could have done. Time will 
show us whether her mind will aspire to the rank of 
favorite Sultana. 

New taxes are intended to be laid on cards, wines, 
foreign silks, oysters, coffee, sugar, — contemptible re- 
sources ! As the Ministry are proceeding blindfold on 
all these matters, they are kept in a kind of secrecy. It 
seems they will rather make attempts than carry them 
into execution. 

To-day, the birthday of Prince Henry, the King has 
made him a present of a rich box, estimated to be 
worth twelve thousand crowns, has set out the gold 
plate, and has done everything w^hich Frederick II. 
used to do, if we omit the rehearsal of a grand concert, 
the day before, in his chamber; for he has time for 
everything except for business. 

" Let there be bawdyhouses on the wings, and I 
will easily beat him in the center." Beware that this 
saying of the Emperor does not become a prophecy. 
The prophet himself, fortunately, is not formidable; 
though I should not be astonished were he to be ani- 
12 — ^Memoirs Vol. 5 



356 BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 

mated by so much torpor and baseness ; but if he do not 
wait two years longer, the energy which the King 
wants may be found in the army. 

Postscript. — The Duke of Weimar is at Mayence, 
as it is said, for the nomination of a coadjutor; but, as 
he visits all the Courts of the Upper and Lower Rhine, 
it would be good to keep a watchful eye over him, in my 
opinion. 



END OF THE SECRET HISTORY 



LETTER OR MEMORIAL 

PRESENTED TO 

FREDERICK WILLIAM 11. 

king of prussia 

On the Day of His Accession to the Throne 

BY 

COMTE DE MIRABEAU 



Arcus et statuas demolitur et obscurat ohlivio, negligit carpitque 
posteritas. Contra cofi,teinptor ambitionis et infinitce potestatis 
domitor animus ipsa vetustate florescit; nee ab ullis magis 
laudatur qudm quibus minime necesse est. 

Plin., Panegy. 



ADVERTISEMENT 

Some imputations are at once so odious and absurd, 
that a person of sense is not tempted to make them 
any reply. If he be a worthy man, silence is his onl}^ 
answer when his calumniators are anonymous. 

But, amid the abuse lately vented against me, and 
which I have enumerated rather among the rewards 
of my labors than estimated as a part of my misfor- 
tunes, there is one species of scandal to which I have 
not been insensible. 

I have been accused of presenting the reigning King 
of Prussia with a libel against the immortal Freder- 
ick II. 

Frederick IL, himself sent for me, when I hesitated 
(much as I regretted, having lived his contemporary, 
to die unknown to him) lest I should disturb his last 
moments during which it was so natural to desire to 
contemplate a great man. He deigned to w^elcome and 
distinguish me. No foreigner after me was admitted 
to his conversation. The last time he thus honored me 
he had refused the just and eager request which some 
of my countrymen, who had repaired to Berlin to see 
his military manceuvres, testified to be admitted to his 
presence. And could I, in return for so honorable a 
distinction, have written a libel? 

Frederick is of himself too great for me ever to be 
tempted to write his panegyric. The very word is, in 
my apprehension, highly beneath a great King; it sup- 
poses exaggeration and insincerity, the wresting or dis- 
simulation of truth; a view of the subject only on the 
favorable side. Panegyric, in fine, is to disguise, or to 

359 



36o MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

betray,^ the truth; for this is one of its inevitable incon- 
veniences; never was panegyric true or honorable that 
was devoid of reproof. I therefore have not, nor shall 
I ever have, written the eulogy of Frederick IL, but I 
have for these two years past been endeavoring to raise 
a monument to his memory, that ought not to be wholly 
unworthy of the labors by which his reign has been 
illustrated, or of those grand lessons which his suc- 
cesses and his errors have equally taught. I have en- 
gaged in this considerable work, which will see the light 
in the course of the present year, and of which I make 
no secret. 

The Memorial which I presented to Frederick Wil- 
liam IL, on the day of his accession to the throne was 
entirely foreign to this plan. It was intended only to 
lay before him the hopes of worthy men, who knew 
how many events, rather great than splendid, might 
take birth in Prussia under a new reign and a Prince 
in the prime of manhood. 

The following is the Memorial in question, which has 
been attributed to me as a crime. I lay my case before 
the world, that the world may judge. I have not 
altered a line, though my opinion has varied consid- 
erably in some circumstances, as will be seen in my 
work on Prussia. But I should have reproached my- 
self had I made any change, however trifling, in a 
Memorial to which the venom of malignity has been 
imputed. 

It has been often asked what right I had to present 
such a Memorial. 

Besides the thanks which the present King of Prus- 
sia graciously was pleased to send me in a letter, he 
has not disdained personally to address me, in a nu- 
merous assembly, at the palace of his royal uncle, 
Prince Henry, a week before my departure from Berlin. 
This I have thought proper to make public, not in an- 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 361 

swer to idle tales, which never could deceive any 
person, but because the courage to love truth is even 
jtnore honorable to a King than that of speaking truth is 
to a private person. 



LETTER OR MEMORIAL 

PRESENTED TO 

FREDERICK WILLIAM II. 

Sire, you are now King. The day is come when it 
has pleased the Creator to confide to you the destiny 
of some millions of men, and the power of bringing" 
much evil, or much good, upon the earth. The scepter 
descends to you at a period of life when man is 
capable of sustaining its weight. You ought at pres- 
ent to be weary of vulgar enjoyments, to be dead to 
pleasures, one only excepted. But this one is the only 
great, the sole inexhaustible pleasure, — a pleasure hith- 
erto interdicted, but now in your power. You are 
called to watch over the welfare of mankind. 

The epocha at which you ascend the throne is for- 
tunate; knowledge daily expands; it has labored, it 
continues to labor for you, and to collect wisdom; it 
extends its influence over your nation, which so many 
circumstances have contributed in part to deprive of 
its light. Reason has erected its rigorous empire. 
Men at present behold one of themselves only, though 
enveloped in royal robes, and from whom more than 
ever they require virtue. Their suffrages are not to 
be despised, and in their eyes but one species of glory 
is now attainable; all others are exhausted. Military 
success, political talents, the miraculous labors of art, 



362 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

the progress of the sciences, have each alternately 
appeared resplendent- from one extremity of Europe 
to the other. But enlightened benevolence, which 
organizes, which vivifies empires, never yet has dis- 
played itself pure and unmixed upon the throne. It 
is for you to seat it there. Yes, renown so sublime 
is reserved to you. Your predecessor has gained a 
sufficient number of battles, perhaps too many; has 
too much wearied fame and her hundred tongues ; has 
dried up the fountain of military fame for several 
reigns, for several ages. Should accident oblige you 
to become his imitator, it is necessary you should 
appear worthy so to be, in which Your Majesty will 
not fail. But this is no reason why you should pain- 
fully seek honor in the beaten path, wherein you can 
but rank as second; while with greater ease, you may 
create a superior glory, and which shall be only yours. 
Frederick has enforced the admiration of men, but 
Frederick never obtained their love: Yes, Sire, their 
love may be wholly yours. 

Sire, your mien, your stature, recall to mind the 
heroes of antiquity. These to the soldier are much; 
much to the people, whose simple good sense associates 
the noblest qualities of mind to beauty of person ; and 
such was the first intention of Nature. In your per- 
son the heroic form is embellished by most remarkable 
tints of mildness and calm benevolence, which prom- 
ise not a little, even to philosophers. You have a feel- 
ing heart, and the long necessity of behaving with 
circumspection must have tempered that native bounty 
which otherwise might have made you too compliant. 
Your understanding is just ; by this I have often been 
struck. Your elocution is nervous and precise. You 
have several times demonstrated that you possess an 
empire over yourself. You have not been educated, 
but you have not been spoiled; and men possessed of 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 363 

energy can educate themselves. They are daily edu- 
cated by experience, and thus are taught what they 
never forget. Your means are great. You are the 
only Monarch in Europe who, far from being in debt, 
is possessed of treasures. Your army is excellent, 
your nation docile, loyal, and possessed of much more 
public spirit than might be expected in so slavish a 
constitution. Some parts of the administration of 
Prussia, such as its responsibility and consistency, 
which are purely military, merit great praises. One 
of your uncles, crowned with glory and success, pos- 
sesses the confidence of Europe, the genius of a hero, 
and the soul of a sage. He is a counselor, a coadjutor, 
a friend, whom Nature and destiny have sent you, at 
the moment when you have most need of him, at the 
time when the more voluntary your deference for him 
shall be, the more infallibly will it acquire your ap- 
plause. You have rivals in power, but not a neighbor 
who is in reality to be feared. He who seemed to pro- 
claim himself the most formidable has too long threat- 
ened to strike. He has been taught to know you. 
He has hastily undertaken, and as hastily renounced. 
He will again renounce his new projects. He will 
require all, will obtain nothing, and will never be any- 
thing more than an irresolute adventurer, a burden 
to himself and others. To preserve yourself from his 
attempts, you need but to suffer his contradictory 
projects to counteract each other. 

You, Sire, are the only Prince who is under the 
indispensable necessity of performing great things, 
and from whom great things are expected; and this 
necessity, this expectation, ought to be enumerated 
among your best resources. How admirable is your 
situation! How inestimable are the advantages you 
bring to that throne whereon being seated your power 
is boundless! A power formidable even to the pos- 



364 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

sessor! But be it remembered that grand institutions, 
important changes, and the regeneration of empires, 
appertain only to absolute Monarchs. Deign, oh, 
deign, to accept the good that Providence has strewn 
beneath your feet! Merit the benefactions of the poor, 
the love of the people, the respect of Europe, and the 
approbation of the wise! Be just, be good; and you 
will be happy and great. 

Great. — This, Sire, is the title you wish; but you 
wish it from history, from futurity; you would dis- 
dain it from the lips of courtiers, whom you have 
heard, and whom you shall hereafter much oftener 
hear, prodigal of the grossest praise. Should you do 
that which the son of your slave could have hourly 
done better than yourself, they will affirm that you 

HAVE PERFORMED AN EXTRAORDINARY ACT. Should 

you obey your passions, they will affirm — you have 
WELL DONE. Should you pour forth the blood of your 
subjects as a river does its waters, they will pronounce 
— YOU have done well. Should you tax the free 
air, they will assert — you have done well. Should 
you, puissant as you are, become revengeful, still 
w^ould they proclaim you had done well. So they 
told the intoxicated Alexander when he plunged his 
dagger into the bosom of his friend. Thus they ad- 
dressed Nero, having assassinated his mother. 

But, Sire, you need only to feel those sentiments 
of justice which are native to your bosom, and that 
enlightened consciousness of benevolence which you 
possess; your own heart will be your judge; and its 
decrees will be confirmed by your people, by the world, 
and by posterity. The esteem of these is indispens- 
able; and how easily may their esteem be obtained! 
Should you indefatigably perform the duties of the 
day, and not remit its burdensome labors till the mor- 
row ; should you by grand and prolific principles know 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 365 

how to simplify these duties, so that they may be per- 
formed by a single man ; should you accord your sub- 
jects all the liberty they are capable of enjoying; 
should you protect property, aid industry, and root 
out petty oppressors, who, abusing your name, will 
not permit men to do that for their own advantage 
which they might without injury to others; then will 
the unanimous voice of mankind bestow blessings on 
your authority, and thus render it more sacred and 
more potent. All things will then become easy to 
you, for every will and every power will unite with 
your will and your power, and your labors will daily 
acquire new enjoyments. Nature has rendered labor 
necessary to man; but she has also bestowed on him 
this precious advantage, that the change of labor is at 
once a recreation to him and a source of pleasure. 
And who more than a Monarch may live according 
to this order of Nature ? A philosopher has said, '' No 
man was so oppressed by languor as a King." He 
ought to have said a slothful king. How can lan- 
guor overcome a Sovereign who shall perform his 
duties? How may he better maintain his body in 
health, or his mind in vigor than when by labor he 
preserves himself from that disgust which all men of 
understanding must feel, amid the babblers and the 
parasites who study but to corrupt, lull, benumb, and 
pilfer Princes? Their whole art is to inspire him 
with apathy and debility; or to render him impotent, 
rash, and indolent. Your people will enjoy your vir- 
tues; for by these only can they prosper or improve. 
Your courtiers will applaud your defects ; for on these 
depend their influence and their hopes. 

Habit, Sire, no less than accident, influences men; 
and habit is determined by the beginning. Therefore 
is the commencement of a reign of such value. Every- 
thing is hoped, and the slightest effort seconds and 



366 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

confirms that hope, increasing it a hundredfold. By 
the pleasure of having done, we are strengthened in 
the love of doing, good; and that which is wished is 
rendered more easy by that which has been effected. 

The beginning, Sire, depends absolutely on your- 
self. Acquire none but good habits; give no encour- 
agement to those that are frivolous. Display the man 
of order, the lover of the public welfare. You will 
soon be joined by all your Ministers and all your 
courtiers. Emulation will spring forth, and wisdom 
will inevitably be the result. Emulation will aid you 
to judge the understandings of those by whom you 
shall be approached. It may sometimes excite or pro- 
duce a happy project, and you will even turn that pro- 
pensity to battery, which cannot totally be expelled 
from Conrts, to the good of your people. 

You may immediately ascertain to yourself that lib- 
erty of mind w^hich grand affairs require, by inter- 
fering only with such as appertain to the sovereign 
authority, and by leaving to your Magistrates and 
Ministers all those which naturally should come under 
their consideration. 

More than one estimable Monarch has rendered him- 
self incapable of reigning with glory by overburden- 
ing his mind with private affairs. As, Sire, it will 
become you always to govern well, it will also be 
worthy of you not to govern too much. Wherefore 
should a King concern himself with civil government 
w^hich can be better exercised without his aid? Au- 
thority once established, external safety ascertained, 
civil and criminal justice administered alike to all 
classes of citizens, landed property accurately esti- 
mated so as to be judiciously assessed, and public 
works, roads, and canals wisely attended to ; what more 
has government to transact? It has but to enjoy the 
industry of the people, who, while active for their own 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 367 

interest, are also acting for the interest of the State 
and the Sovereign. 

The King who shall examine whether it be not the 
most wise not to lay any restraint on the general affairs 
and business of men is yet to be born; yet this is the 
King who would govern like a God; and, by the min- 
istry of reason, leaving the interest of each individual 
to himself, would ascertain to all the fruits of their 
industry and their knowledge. Where men are most 
free, there will they be most numerous ; and there, also 
will they pay the most submission, and have the great- 
est attachment, to authority; for authority is essen- 
tially the friend of that freedom which it protects. 
No man would require more than to be left at liberty 

AND IN PEACE. 

You surely. Sire, are not to be told that the mania 
of enacting and restraining laws is the characteristic 
of inferior minds; of men incapable of generalizing, 
who feed on timidity, and shake with ridiculous appre- 
hensions. This important truth will indicate to you 
the reformation you ought to make; and how much 
better you will govern than your predecessors and 
rivals, by governing less. 

There are, doubtless, a multitude of good, useful, 
necessary' and even urgent things, which it will be 
impossible you should immediately execute. You 
must first learn them, must combine, and leave them 
to ripen. And wherefore should you confide in the 
opinion of another? This is one of the grand errors 
of which you ought to be aware, as you ought also of 
being obliged to retract what you have done. The 
inconsistency of that Sovereign, among your rivals, 
who has attempted the most, has been more injurious 
to the political respect in which he might have been 
held than his worst errors. Not only, therefore, must 
you learn what is to do, but, which is more difficult, 



z-" 



368 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

you must, perhaps, instruct your Ministers, and cer- 
tainly your people. Let persuasion precede legislation, 
Sire ; and you will meet no contradiction, and scarcely 
any impediments in those operations which require 
moments of greater calm, and less business, than are 
those of the beginning of a reign. But there are 
things which you may instantly execute, and which, 
by propagating a high opinion of your worth, will 
acquire the fruits of confidence to your own profit, and 
facilitate the grand changes with which your reign 
ought to abound. 

Suffer a man who loves you — pardon the freedom 
for the truth of the expression — suffer a man who 
loves you, for the good you may do, and for the grand 
example you shall afford of the evil that may be 
avoided, to point out a few of those things which a 
single voluntary act of yours may perform, and which 
can only be productive of good, without inconvenience, 
while they shall display the morning of the most pa- 
ternal reign which has ever blessed mankind. 

Among these. Sire, and in the first rank, I shall 
enumerate the abolition of military slavery; that is to 
say, the obligation imposed in your States on all men 
from the age of eighteen to sixty and upward, if able, 
to serve for threepence a day. 

This fearful law, originating in the necessities of an 
iron age and a half-barbarous country ; this law which 
depopulates and exhausts your kingdom, which dis- 
honors the most numerous and the most useful class 
of your subjects, without whom you and your ances- 
tors would only have been slaves more or less feathered 
and painted; this law, which is abused by your offi- 
cers, who enroll more men than the military conscrip- 
tion permits, this law does not procure you a soldier 
more than you would acquire by an increase of pay, 
which might easily be made from the additional rev- 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 369 

enue which you would gain by the just suppression 
of those ruinous enlisters whom Frederick 11. main- 
tained in foreign countries; and by a sage mode of 
recruiting the Prussian army, in a manner that should 
elevate the mind, increase public spirit, and preserve 
the forms of freedom instead of those of brutalizing 
slavery. 

Throughout Europe, Sire, and in Prussia partic- 
ularly, men have had the stupidity to deprive them- 
selves of one of the most useful instinctive feelings 
on which the love of our country can be founded. 
Men are required to go to war like sheep to the slaugh- 
terhouse; though nothing could be more easy than to 
unite the service of the public with emulation and 
fame. 

Your subjects are obliged to serve from eighteen to 
sixty; and this they, with good reason, suppose to be 
the rigorous subjection of serviHty. The militia of 
France is the same, and though less cruel, is hateful 
to the people. Yet the Swiss have a similar obligation, 
which commences at the age of sixteen, and they 
believe themselves to be free men. 

In fact, that natural confederacy which induces citi- 
zens of the same condition to repel the enemy, and to 
defend their own and their neighbor's inheritance, is 
so manifest, and the exercise of it is so pleasingly 
attractive to youth, that it is inconceivable how tyr- 
anny could be so weak as to render it a burden. 

Impart, SiRE, to this obligation the forms of free- 
dom and of fame, by making it voluntary, and neces- 
sary in order to merit esteem, by rendering it a point 
of honor; and your army will be better conditioned, 
while your subjects shall imagine they are, and shall 
really be, relieved from a yoke most odious. 

Begin by remitting ten years of service; your army 
then will not be debilitated by age. 



370 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

Let your peasants afterward form national com- 
panies, in all parishes, that shall exercise every Sunday. 

Let such national companies choose their own 
grenadiers; and from these let the recruits for your 
regiments be selected, — not by your officers, not by the 
Magistrates, but by the plurality of votes among their 
comrades. Arbitrary proceedings would vanish, 
choice would become distinction, and the parishes re- 
sponsible for the soldiers they have supplied. Being 
obliged to fill up their own vacancies when drafts are 
made, the regiments would be always complete, with- 
out effort, without tyranny, and without murmur. 

Kings who have created power, impatient of enjoy- 
ment, have not confided in general principles. They 
have feared that the people they have invited into their 
countries should too soon be disgusted by the difficul- 
ties they must have to encounter at the beginning. 
Hence those tyrannical regulations, by the aid of w^hich 
they have intended to fix the wretch to the soil on 
which he had been planted. In the present state of 
your kingdom there is no pretext for the continuance 
of this error. It is time to eradicate slavery at which 
the heart revolts, which drives away good subjects, or 
inspires them with the desire of escaping. Banish, 
therefore, all unnecessary constraint; and this, which 
of all others is the most unnecessary. 

Yet, before deciding on any plan for the recruiting 
of the army, it is requisite to consider, with all the 
attention which it merits, that of the most worthy of 
your Ministers, Baron Hertzberg, who, to a compre- 
hensive knowledge of the wounds of Prussia, and the 
means of prosperity and cure, joins the highest degree 
of public spirit and patriotic love. He supposes it 
possible to recruit the army by itself, so as to provide 
for everything that the most restless state of politics 
can require. Perhaps, and probably, his plan and mine 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 371 

may coalesce. It is incontestably one of those which 
ought to be executed at the very beginning of your 
reign ; but let it be preceded by a law of enfranchise- 
ment, which shall procure your efforts the universal 
suffrages of mankind, and their combined aid. 

It is not to a man so worthy as you, Sire (and what 
greater praise can be bestowed upon a King?), it is 
not necessary to recommend, with respect to enroll- 
ments, the religious observation of all the stipulations 
so unworthily violated by your predecessors, or the 
pious rewarding of soldiers who have distinguished 
themselves ty long and loyal service. Alas! Sire, I 
have seen alms bestowed, under the windows of your 
palace, upon men who, while you were yet in your 
cradle, have shed their blood in defense of your fam- 
ily. Your generous equity doubtless will soften the 
rigor of their destiny. Remember also the duty, the 
necessity, of educating the children of soldiers, who 
at present are perishing in the most deplorable man- 
ner, in the orphan house of Potsdam, where more than 
four thousand are huddled together. Humanity im- 
plores your protection of these wretched victims, and 
provident policy, which but too loudly affirms how 
requisite a great army will long be to the Prus- 
sian States, will point out the real value of these 
children. 

Men ought to be happy in your kingdom, Sire; 
grant them liberty to leave their country, when not 
legally detained by individual obligations. Grant this 
freedom by a formal edict. This, Sire, is another of 
the eternal laws of equity, which the situation of the 
times demands should be put in execution; which will 
do you infinite good, and which will not rob you of 
one enjoyment; for your people can nowhere seek a 
better condition than that which it depends on you to 
afford them; and could they be happy elsewhere they 



372 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

would not be detained by your prohibitions. Leave 
such laws to those Powers that have been desirous to 
render provinces prisons, forgetting that this was but 
to make them hateful. The most tyrannical laws re- 
specting emigration have only impelled the people to 
emigrate, against the very wish of Nature, and per- 
haps the most powerful of all wishes, which attaches 
man to his native soil. How does the Laplander cher- 
ish the desolate climate under which he is born ! And 
would the inhabitant of a kingdom enlightened by 
milder suns pronounce his own banishment, did not a 
tyrannical administration render the benefits of Nature 
useless or abhorred? Far from dispersing men, a 
law of enfranchisement would but detain them in 
what they would then call their good country; and 
which they would prefer to lands the most fertile ; for 
man will submit to everything that Providence im- 
poses; he only murmurs at injustice from man, to 
which, if he does submit, it is with a rebellious heart. 
Man is not a tree rooted to the earth in which he 
grows; therefore pertains not to the soil. He is nei- 
ther field, meadow, nor brute; therefore cannot be 
bought and sold. He has an interior conviction of 
these simple truths; nor can he be persuaded that his 
chiefs have any right to attach him to the glebe. All 
powers in vain unite to inculcate a doctrine so infa- 
mous. The time when the sovereign of the earth 
might conjure him in the name of God, if such a time 
ever existed, is past; the language of justice and rea- 
son is the only one to which he will at present listen. 
Princes cannot too often recollect that English Amer- 
ica enjoins all governments to be just and sage, if 
governors do not wish to rule over deserts. 

Abolish, Sire, the traites foraines, and the droits 
d'atibaine. Of what benefit to you can such remains 
of feudal barbarism be ? Do not wait for a system of 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 373 

reciprocity, which never has any other effect than that 
of longer detaining nations in a state of folly and 
warfare. That which is good for the prosperity of 
any country needs no reciprocity. Objections of this 
kind are but the foolish objections of vanity. Should 
the tyranny which is exercised over man and property 
in one State be to the loss of another, this is an addi- 
tional reason why the latter should put an end to such 
absurd customs. Similar absurdities, perhaps, have 
obliged its own subjects to seek their fortune else- 
where, and have even made them forbear to return 
and bring the fruits of their labors back to the coun- 
try that gave them birth. As nothing is wanting but 
that some one should begin, how noble, how worthy 
is it of a great King to be first! Your commercial 
subjects who are somewhat wealthy could not acquire 
their wealth at home, they were obliged to seek it in 
foreign countries ; who, therefore. Sire, is more inter- 
ested than you are to set the example of abolition, 
where to exact is so atrocious? Have England and 
Holland waited to renounce such rights till you should 
have renounced them in their behalf ? 

One of the most urgent changes which demands 
your attention, and which a word may accomplish, is 
a law to restore to the plebeians the liberty to purchase 
patrician lands, with all their annexed rights. The 
execution of the strange decree by which they were 
deprived of this liberty has been so iniquitously in- 
flicted that, if a patrician estate was sold for debt, 
and a plebeian was desirous of paying all the creditors, 
with an additional sum to the debtor, he was not al- 
lowed so to do, without an express order from the 
King. This order was generally refused by your pre- 
decessor; and the patrician by whom the creditors 
were defrauded, and the debtor kept without resource, 
had the preference. What was the consequence of this 



374 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

absurd law? The debasement of the price of land, 
that is to say, of the first riches of the State, and 
highly to the disadvantage of the noble landholders; 
the decay of agriculture, which was before discour- 
aged by so many other causes, and of credit among 
the gentry; the aggravation of that fearful prejudice 
which wrongs the plebeian and renders the patrician 
stupid, by making him suppose his honorable rights 
are a sufficient source of respect, and that he need not 
acquire any other; in fine, the absolute necessity that 
those plebeians should quit the country who had ac- 
quired any capital; for they could not employ their 
money in trade, that being ruined by monopoly; nor 
in agriculture, because they were not allowed to hope 
they ever might be landholders. Is not Mecklenburg 
full of the traders of Stettin and Konigsberg, etc., 
who have employed the wealth they gained, during 
the last maritime war, in the purchase of the estates 
of the ruined nobility of that country? This, Sire, 
would be a heavy loss to you, were Mecklenburg al- 
ways to be separated from your kingdom; a loss 
beyond the powers of calculation, were the same regu- 
lations hereafter to subsist. It is a remark which 
could not escape sagacious travelers, that wealthy 
merchants have delighted, in retirement, to betake 
themselves to agriculture. The most barren land be- 
comes fruitful in their possession. They labor for its 
improvement, and bear with them that spirit of order, 
that circumstantial precision, by which they grew rich 
in trade. Wherever merchants can purchase, and 
wherever trade is honorable, there the country flour- 
ishes, and wears the face of abundance and prosperity. 
Commercial industry awakens every other kind of 
industry, and the earth requires that ingenious till- 
age which animates vegetation in the most ungrateful 
soil. Ah! Sire, deign to recollect this tillage never 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 37.^ 

was invented on patrician lands; for this we are in- 
debted to those countries where illustrious birth van- 
ishes when merit and talents appear. 

Abolish, Sire, those senseless prerogatives which 
bestow great offices on men who, to speak mildly, are 
not above mediocrity; and which are the cause that 
the greatest number of your subjects take no interest 
in a country where they have nothing to hope but fet- 
ters and humiliations. Beware, oh! beware, of that 
universal aristocracy which is the scourge of monar- 
chical States, even more than of republics; an aris- 
tocracy by which, from one end of the earth to the 
other, the human species is oppressed. It is the inter- 
est of the most absolute Monarch to promulgate the 
most popular maxims. The people do not dread and 
revile Kings ; but their Ministers, their courtiers, their 
nobles ; in a word, the aristocracy. " Oh, did the 
King but know ! " Thus they exclaim. They daily 
invoke the royal authority, and are always ready to 
arm it against aristocracy. And whence is the power 
of the Prince derived, but from the people; his per- 
sonal safet}^, but from the people; his wealth and 
splendor, but from the people ; those benedictions which 
alone can make him more than mortal, but from the 
people? And who are the enemies of the Sovereign, 
but the grandees : the members of the aristocracy, who 
require the King should be only the first among 
EQUALS, and who, wherever they could, have left him 
no other pre-eminence than that of rank, reserving 
power to themselves? By what strange error does it 
happen that Kings debase their friends, whom they 
deliver up to their enemies? It is the interest and the 
will of the people that the Prince should never be de- 
ceived. The interest and the will of the nobility are 
the very reverse. The people are easily satisfied : they 
give and ask not. Only prevent indolent pride from 



376 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

bearing too heavily upon them; leave but the career 
open which the Supreme Being has pointed out to 
them at their birth, and they will not murmur. Where 
is the Monarch who could ever satisfy the noble, the 
rich, the great? Do they ever cease to ask? Will 
they ever cease? 

Sire, equality of rights among those who support 
the throne will form its firmest basis. Changes of 
this kind cannot be suddenly made ; yet there is one of 
these which cannot be too suddenly : let no person who 
wishes to approach the throne, whatever may be his 
rank in life, be impeded by the prerogatives of the 
great. Let men feel the necessity of equal merit to 
obtain preference. It is for you to level distinctions, 
and seat merit in its proper place. 

Declare open war on the prejudice which places so 
great a distance between military and civil functions. 
It is a prejudice which, under a feeble Prince, such as 
your august family, like every other, may some time 
produce, will expose the country, and the Crown itself, 
to all the convulsions of pretorian anarchy. The of- 
ficer and the soldier, SiRE, should only be proud in the 
presence of the foe. To their countrymen they should 
be brothers; and, if they defend their fellow-citizens, 
be it remembered they are paid by their fellows-citizens. 
In a kingdom like yours, perhaps, the warrior ought 
to have the first degree of respect; but he ought not to 
have it exclusively. If you have an army only you 
will never have a kingdom. Render your civil officers 
more respectable than they were under your prede- 
cessor. Nothing is more just, or more easy to accom- 
plish. The Prince who reigns over the affections en- 
gages them by the simplest attentions. Frederick 11. 
had the frenzy of continually wearing a uniform, as if 
he were the King only of soldiers. This legionary 
habiliment did not a little contribute to discredit the 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 377 

civil officer. How happened it he never felt it was 
impossible a Sovereign should render men estimable, 
for whom he never would testify esteem? He who 
attempts to make those incorruptible to whom he will 
not assure pecuniary independence will be equally un- 
successful. Let the civil officer be better paid, and 
never forget, Sire, that ill pay is ill economy. Among 
a thousand examples, I will but cite the enormous 
frauds that the Prussian Administrators have, for 
some years, committed on the public revenue. By an 
inconsistency, which is important in its effects, the 
financiers have been held in too much contempt, and 
those who have been convicted of acts the most dis- 
honest have been too slightly punished. Such par- 
tiality could only raise the indignation of the poor, 
and encourage the fraudulent, who soon learned that 
to bribe an accomplice was to diminish the danger. 

Prompt and gratuitous justice is evidently the first 
of Sovereign duties. If the Judge have no interest 
to elude the law, and can receive only his salary, gratui- 
tous justice is soon rendered, and will be equitable, 
should your inspection be active and severe, and should 
you never forget that severity is the first duty of Kings. 
This grand regulation of rendering justice entirely 
gratuitous will, fortunately, not become burdensome 
in your States, for your people are well inclined, and 
not addicted to litigious disputes. But, burdensome or 
not, that which is strict equity is always necessary. 
Justice, Sire, precedes utility itself; or, rather, where 
justice is not, there is there no utility. The Judge 
ought to be paid by the public, and not to receive fees. 
To deny this were absurd ; for must not Judges subsist, 
though there should not, for a whole year, be a single 
lawsuit ? 

Be you, Sire, the first to render the administration 
of justice gratuitous. 



378 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

Be you also the first in whose States all men who 
wish to labor shall find work. All who breathe ought 
to feed by labor. It is the first law of Nature, and 
prior to all human conventions. It is the bond of 
society. The Government that should neglect to mul- 
tiply the products of the earth, and that should not 
leave to each individual the use and profits of his in- 
dustry, would be the accomplice or the author of all 
the crimes of men, and never could punish a culprit 
without committing a murder; for each man who 
offers labor in exchange for food, and meets refusal, 
is the natural and legitimate enemy of other men, and 
has a right to make war upon society. 

Everywhere, in country as well as in town, let 
houses of industry be kept open at the expense of 
Government ; that any man, of any country, may there 
gain his livelihood by his labor; and that your sub- 
jects there may be taught the value of time and in- 
dustry. 

Such institutions. Sire, would be no burden; they 
would pay themselves. They would open a road to 
trade, facilitate the sale of natural products, enrich 
your lands, and improve your finances. 

Such, Sire, are the institutions which become a great 
King; and not manufactures protected by exclusive 
privileges, which only can be supported by injustice 
and mountains of gold, and which do but contribute to 
enrich a very small number of men ; or to endow hospi- 
tals, which, if there were no poor, would create pau- 
pers. 

There are, alas ! too many poor in Prussia, especially 
at Berlin, and the poverty of whom demands your at- 
tention. In your capital it cannot be said without a 
painful emotion, a tenth of the inhabitants receive 
public alms; and this number annually augments. It 
is, no doubt, necessary to limit the extent of cities, 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 379 

where excessive population is productive of the worst 
consequences. In them not only poverty takes birth, 
but the worst of poverty, because it is not known 
how it may be remedied. The poor of cities are beings 
that have lost all good properties, moral and physical. 
But, speaking in general, the best opponent to this in- 
creasing poverty would be the houses of industry before 
mentioned, where all men who have arms may labor; 
and not those useless trades which are wretched in 
their pomp, and serve but to encourage the luxury of 
splendor, which already eats up your kingdom; nor 
those hospitals, fruitful sources of depredation, of 
benefit only to their directors, which engulf sums sa 
considerable; while your schools, especially those of 
the open country, are so neglected and so miserable 
that the salaries of some of the headmasters scarcely 
amount to fifteen crowns a year. Let Your Majesty fit 
your subjects for labor by a proper mode of instruction, 
and they will have no need of hospitals. 

You are not ignorant, Sire, that to instruct is one 
of the most important duties of the Sovereign, as it is 
one of his greatest sources of wealth. The most able 
man could do nothing without forming those who sur- 
round him, and whom he is obliged to employ; nor 
without teaching them his language, and familiarizing 
them with his ideas and his principles. The entire 
freedom of the Press, therefore, ought to be enumer- 
ated among your first regulations, not only because 
the deprivation of this freedom is a deprivation of 
natural right, but because that all impediment to the 
progress of the human understanding is an evil, an 
excessive evil, and especially to yourself, who only can 
enjoy truth, and hear truth, from the Press, which 
should be the Prime Minister of good Kings. 

They will tell you. Sire, that with respect to the free- 
dom of the Press you can add nothing at Berlin. But 



38o MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

to abolish the censorship, of itself so useless, and al- 
ways so arbitrary, would be much. If the printer's 
name be inserted in the title-page it is enough, per- 
haps more than enough. The only specious objection 
against an unlimited freedom of the Press is the licen- 
tiousness of libels; but it is not perceived that the free- 
dom of the Press would take away the danger, because 
that, under such a regulation, truth only would re- 
main. The most scandalous libels have no power ex- 
cept in countries that are deprived of the freedom of 
the Press. Its restrictions form an illicit trade, which 
cannot be extirpated; yet they lay restraints on none 
but honest people. Let not, therefore, that absurd con- 
trast be seen in Prussia, which absolutely forbids 
foreign books to be inspected, and subjects national 
publications to so severe an inquisition. Give freedom 
to all. Read, Sire^ and suffer others to read. Knowl- 
edge will everywhere expand, and will center on 
the throne. Do you wish for darkness? Oh, no! 
Your mind is too great. Or, if you did, you would 
wish in vain; would act to your own injury, without 
obtaining the fatal success of extinguishing light. You 
will read, Sire; you will begin a noble association 
with books; books that have destroyed shameful and 
cruel prejudices ; that have smoothed your paths ; that 
were beneficial to you previous even to your birth. 
You will not be ungrateful toward the accumulated 
labor of beneficent genius. You will read; you will 
protect those who write ; for without them what were, 
what should be, the human species ? They will instruct, 
they will aid you, will speak to you unseen, without ap- 
proaching your throne; will introduce august Truth 
to your presence, who shall enter your palace unes- 
corted, unattended; and, having entered, she will ask 
no dignities, no titles, but will remain invisible and 
disinterested. You will read ; but you would wish your 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 381 

people should read also. You will not think you have 
done enough by filling your academies with foreigners. 
You will found schools, especially in the country, and 
will multiply and endow them. You will not wish to 
reign in darkness. Say but, " Let there be light," and 
light shall appear at your bidding; while her divine 
beams shall shine more resplendent round your head 
than all the laurels of heroes and conquerors. 

There is a devouring plague in your States, Sire, 
which you cannot too suddenly extirpate ; and no doubt 
this good deed will nobly signalize the first day of 
your accession to the throne. I speak of the lottery, 
which would but be the more odious and more for- 
midable did it procure you the wealth of worlds; but 
which, for the wretched gain of fifty thousand crowns, 
hurries the industrious part of your subjects into all the 
calamities of poverty and vice. 

You will be told, Sire, what some pretended states- 
men have not blushed to write, and publish, that the 
lottery ought to be regarded as a voluntary tax. A 
tax? And what a tax! One whose whole products 
are founded either on delirium or despair. What a 
tax! To which the rich landholder is not obliged to 
contribute. A tax which neither wise nor good men 
ever pay. A voluntary tax? Strange indeed is this 
kind of freedom! Each day, each minute, the people 
are told it depends only on themselves to become rich 
for a trifle: thousands may be gained by a shilling. 
So the wretch believes who cannot calculate, and who 
is in want of bread ; and the sacrifice he makes of that 
poor remaining shilling which was to purchase bread, 
and appease the cries of his family, is a free gift! — a 
tax, which he pays to his Sovereign! 

You will be further told — yes, men will dare to tell 
you — that this horrible invention, which empoisons 
even hope itself, the last of the comforts of man, is 



382 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

indeed an evil ; but that it were better you should your- 
self collect the harvest of lottery than abandon your 
subjects to foreign lotteries. Oh! Sire^ cast arithmetic 
so corrupt, and sophisms so detestable, with horror 
from you. There continually are means of opposing 
foreign lotteries. Secret collectors are not to be 
feared. They will not penetrate far into your States 
when the pains and penalties are made severe; and in 
such instances only are informers encouraged without 
inconvenience, for they only inform against an am- 
bulatory pestilence. The natural penalties against such 
as favor adventurers in foreign lotteries are: infamy, 
an exclusion from municipal offices, from trading com- 
panies, and the right of coming on 'Change. These 
penalties are very severe, and no doubt sufficient; yet if 
violent remedies are necessary to impede the progress 
of such a crime, the punishment of death, that punish- 
ment at which my mind revolts and my blood is frozen, 
that punishment so prodigally bestowed on so many 
crimes, and which perhaps no crime can merit, would 
be rendered more excusable from the fearful list of 
wretchedness and disorder, which originate in lotteries, 
than even from the most exaggerated consequences of 
domestic theft. 

But, Sire, the great, first, and immediate operation 
which I supplicate from Your Majesty, in the name 
of your dearest interest and glory, is a quick and 
formal declaration, accompanied with all the awful 
characteristics of sovereignty, that unlimited toleration 
shall prevail through your States, and that they shall 
ever remain open to all religions. You have a very 
natural, and not less estimable, opportunity of making 
such a declaration. Publish an edict which shall grant 
civil liberty to the Jews. This act of beneficence, at 
the very commencement of your reign, will make you 
surpass your illustrious predecessor in religious tolera- 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 383 

tion, who was the most tolerant Prince that ever ex- 
isted. Nor shall this excess of beneficence be without 
its reward. Exclusive of the numerous increase to 
population, and the large capitals which Prussia will 
infallibly acquire, at the expense of other countries, 
the Jews of the second generation will become good 
and useful citizens. To effect this they need but be en- 
couraged in the mechanic arts and agriculture, which to 
them are interdicted. Free them from those additional 
taxes by which they are oppressed. Give them access 
to the courts of justice equal to your other subjects, by 
depriving their Rabbis of all civil authority. Oh ! Sire, 
I conjure you, beware of delaying the declaration of 
the most universal tolerance. There are fears in your 
provinces of rather losing than gaining in this re- 
spect. Apprehensions are entertained concerning what 
are called your prejudices, your preconceived opinions, 
your doctrine. This, perhaps, is the only part in which 
you have been seriously attacked by calumny. Sol- 
emnly prove the falsehood of those who have affirmed 
you are intolerant. Show them that your respect for 
religious opinions equals your respect for the great 
Creator, and that you are far from desiring to pre- 
scribe laws concerning the manner in which He ought 
to be adored. Prove that, be your philosophic or relig- 
ious opinions what they may, you make no pretensions 
to the absurd and tyrannical right of imposing opinions 
upon others. 

After these preliminary acts, which, I cannot too 
often repeat, may as well be performed in an hour as in 
a year, and which consequently ought to be performed 
immediately, a glance on the economical and political 
system by which your kingdom is regulated will lead 
you to other considerations. 

It is a most remarkable thing that a man like your 
predecessor, distinguished for the extreme justness of 



384 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OE 

his understanding, should have embraced an econom- 
ical and political system so radically vicious. In- 
direct taxes, extravagant prohibitions, regulations of 
every kind, exclusive privileges, monopolies without 
number! Such was the spirit of his domestic govern- 
ment, and to a degree that, besides being odious, was 
most ridiculous. 

Is it not astonishing, for example, that a man like 
Frederick IL, could waste his time in regulating, in 
such a city as Berlin, the rates that should be paid at 
inns; the pay of laqiiais de louage, and the value of all 
the necessaries of life ; or that ever he should conceive 
the project of prohibiting the entrance of French apples 
into the march of Brandenburg, which is only produc- 
tive of wood and sands? As if the apples of his prov- 
inces were in dread of rivals! Thus, too, he asked, 
when he prohibited the eggs that were brought from 
Saxony, " Cannot my hens lay eggs? " — Could he for- 
get that the eggs of the hens of Berlin must first be 
eaten before the inhabitants would send as far as 
Dresden for others? His prohibition, too, of the 
mouse traps of Brunswick! As if the man had ever 
before been born who founded his hopes of fortune 
on a speculation in mouse traps ! It would be endless 
to collect all his singularities of this kind. Who can 
reflect, without pain and pity, that four hundred and 
twelve monopolies exist in your kingdom? So inter- 
woven was this equally absurd and iniquitous system 
with the spirit of the government of Frederick II. Or 
that a great number of these monopolies are still active; 
at least that the prohibitive ordinances are effective, 
which bestowed such exclusive privileges on persons 
many of whom have since been ruined, and have be- 
come bankrupts or outlaws ? Or that, in fine, the num- 
ber of prohibited commodities greatly exceeds that of 
commodities that are permitted? These things would 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 385 

appear incredible to men even most accustomed to in- 
dulge the regulatory and fiscal delirium. Yet thus low 
could even a great man sink, who was desirous of 
governing too much. 

Is it not equally astonishing that a Monarch so active, 
so industrious in his royal functions, should leave the 
system of direct taxation exactly in the state in which 
it was under Frederick L, when the clergy were taxed 
at a fiftieth of their income, the nobility at the thirty- 
third, and the people at the seventeenth; a burden at 
that time excessive, but which, by the different varia- 
tions in value and the signs of property, is almost re- 
duced to nothing? So that industry and trade have 
been most unmercifully oppressed by your predecessor, 
at the very time that he was establishing manufactures 
at an excessive expense. 

How might this same King, so consistent and perti- 
nacious in what he had once ordained, at the time that 
he settled new colonies by granting them franchises and 
the right of property, the necessity of which to agricul- 
ture he consequently knew, suffer the absurd regula- 
tion to subsist which excludes all right of property in 
the greatest part of his kingdom? How was it that he 
did not feel that, instead of expending sums so vast 
in forming colonies, he would much more rapidly have 
augmented his revenues and the population of his 
provinces, by enfranchising those unfortunate beasts 
of burden who, under the human form, cultivate the 
earth, by distributing among them the extensive tracts 
called domains (which absorb almost the half of your 
estates) in proprietaries, and on condition of paying 
certain hereditary quitrents in kind? 

All these particulars, and a thousand others of a like 
kind, are strange, no doubt ; yet it is not totally impos- 
sible to explain such eccentricities of mind in a great 
man. Without entering here into a particular inquiry 



386 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

concerning that quality of mind whence it resulted that 
Frederick 11. was much rather a singular example of 
the development of great character, in its proper place, 
than of an elevated genius, bestowed by Nature, and 
superior to other men, it is easy to perceive that, having 
applied the whole power of his abilities to form a grand 
military force, with provinces that were disunited, par- 
celed out and generally unfruitful; and, for that pur- 
pose, wishing to outstrip the slow march of Nature, 
he principally thought of money, because money was 
the only engine of speed. Hence originated with him 
his idolatry of money; his love of amassing, realizing, 
and heaping. Those fiscal systems which most effec- 
tually stripped the people of their metal were those in 
which he most delighted. Every artifice, every fiscal 
extortion, that has taken birth in kingdoms the most 
luxurious, which, unfortunately, in this as in other 
things, gave the fashion to Europe, were by turns 
naturalized in his States. Frederick H. was the more 
easily led to pursue this purpose, because such was the 
situation of some of his provinces that they were al- 
most necessarily a market for the products of Saxony, 
Poland, etc., and thus che multiplicity and severity of 
his duties were less rapidly destructive of the revenue 
arising from the tolls. Besides that, his nation, but 
little active, and still, perhaps, tainted by the Ger- 
manic improvidence which neglects or disdains to 
save, did not afford him any other immediate resource 
than what might be found in the Royal Treasury. He 
imagined the Prussians were in need of being goaded 
by additions, which, however, could only tend to 
slacken their pace. He supposed they might be taught 
wisdom by monopolies; as If monopolies w^ere not in- 
jurious to the progress of knowledge. Having taken 
his first steps, his unconquerable spirit of consistency, 
which was his distinguishing characteristic; the multi- 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 387 

tude of his affairs, which obHged him to leave whatever 
did not appertain to the mihtary system on the same 
basis, and with similar institutions, in which he found 
it; his habit of not suffering contradiction nor discus- 
sion; his extreme contempt for mankind, which, per- 
haps, will explain all his success, all his errors, all his 
conduct; his confidence in his own superiority, which 
confirmed him in the fatal resolution of seeing all, of 
all regulating, all ordaining, and personally interfering 
in all — these various causes combined have rendered 
fiscal robbery, and systematic monopoly, irrefragable 
and sacred in his kingdom; while they were daily ag- 
gravated by his despotic temper and the moroseness of 
age. 

Evils so various and so great had indeed some com- 
pensations. To his numerous taxes Frederick II. 
joined a rigorous economy. He raised heavy contri- 
butions on his enemies. His first wars were paid by 
their money. He conquered a rich province, where 
great and wealthy industry, reduced no doubt by a 
government more sage than his, had previously been 
established. He drew subsidies from his allies; the 
folly of granting which is no longer in fashion. Dur- 
ing four-and-twenty years of peace, he enjoyed a de- 
gree of respect which rather resembled worship than 
dread. He continually reserved, in his States, some 
part of the money he extorted. His new military dis- 
cipline, a species of industry of which he was the 
creator, not a little contributed to his puissance ; and his 
wealth, in the midst of indebted Europe, would have 
been almost sufficient for all his wishes; for, had the 
ardor of his ambition longer continued, what he could 
not have conquered he would have bought. Who, 
indeed, can say whether Frederick II., was not in- 
debted, for a great part of his domestic success, to the 
deplorable state of the human species in Germany; 
13 — Memoirs Vol. 5 



388 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

through most of the States of which, if we except 
Saxony, the inhabitants were still more wretched than 
in Prussia? 

Yet, SiRE^ with efforts so multiplied, what is the in- 
heritance that has been left you by this great King? 
Are your provinces rich, powerful and happy? De- 
prive them of their military renown and the resources 
of the Royal Treasury, which soon may vanish, and 
feeble will be the remainder. Had the provinces of 
which your kingdom is composed been under a pater- 
nal government, and peopled by freemen, the acquisi- 
tion of Silesia might have been more distant; but how 
different would have been the present state and wealth 
of the whole remaining nation! 

Your situation, Sire, is entirely different from that 
of your predecessor. The destructive resources of 
fiscal regulation are exhausted. A change of system is, 
for this reason, indispensable. An army cannot always, 
cannot long, constitute the basis of the Prussian puis- 
sance. Your army must, therefore, be supported by all 
the internal aids which good administration can em- 
ploy, built on permanent foundations. It is necessary 
that you should truly animate the national industry, in 
ably profiting by those extraordinary and perishable 
means which have been transmitted to you by your 
predecessor. These, it is to be presumed, you may 
long enjoy. It is not, therefore, absurd to advise you 
to sow in order that you may reap. Should momentary 
sacrifices, however great, be necessary to render the 
Prussian States (which hitherto have only constituted 
a vast and formidable camp) a stable and prosperous 
monarchy, founded on freedom and property, the im- 
mensity of your treasure will render such sacrifices in- 
finitely less burdensome to you than they would be 
to any other Sovereign, and the barter will be pro- 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 389 

digiously to your advantage, even should the rendering 
of men happy be estimated at nothing. 

The basis of the system which it is your duty, Sire, 
to form, must rest on the just ideals which you shall 
obtain of the true value of money, which is but a 
trifling part of national wealth, and of much less im- 
portance than the riches which annually spring from 
the bosom of the earth. The incorruptibility and the 
scarcity of gold have rendered it a pledge, and a mode 
of exchange between man and man; and this general 
use is the chief source of the deceitful opinions that are 
entertained of its value. The facility with which it 
may be removed, when men are obliged to fly, especially 
from places where tyranny is to be dreaded, has given 
every individual a desire of amassing gold; and the 
false opinions concerning that metal have been 
strengthened by this universal desire. No less true is it 
that, gold being an engine or agent in trade, and that 
the multiplicity of agents is the increase of trade, and 
still further that the increase of trade is the prosperity 
of nations, to imprison gold, or to act so as to oblige 
others to imprison it, is madness. What would you say 
of a Prince who, desiring to become a conqueror, 
should keep his army shut up in barracks ? Yet Kings 
who amass gold act precisely thus. They render 
that lifeless which is of no value except when in 
motion. 

But just ideas concerning the value of gold are neces- 
sarily connected with those of the government that 
shall respect property, and shall pursue principles of 
rigorous justice; such as shall inspire unshaken con- 
fidence, and render to each individual the most perfect 
security; for, without this, the true use of gold is 
traversed by innumerable accidents, that deprive It of 
the utility which would otherwise render national in- 
dustry so fruitful. 



390 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OE 

Whatever you may do, Sire_, to inspire confidence, 
it still remains for you to observe that nations have 
commercial connections; and that gold forms one of 
those, because of its necessity to trade. It must flow 
here or there, according to the indefinite combinations 
of merchants. Hence no nation can unite sound opin- 
ions concerning trade with restraint on the exportation 
of gold. Each man must finally pay his debts, and no 
person gives or receives gold, from which little is to 
be gained, except when every means of paying in 
merchandise is exhausted; for from these, profits are 
derived to buyer and seller. What would you think, 
Sire, of a Prince who should encourage the merchants 
of his kingdom to establish numerous manufactures, 
consequently to employ numerous agents, yet should 
forbid those agents to leave the kingdom that they 
might purchase the materials of which the manufac- 
turers stand in need ? This, however, is the picture of 
the Prince who should prevent, or lay restraint on, the 
exportation of gold ; such would his frenzy be. But in 
what does this originate ? In his fear that the gold will 
never come back. And wherefore? Because he se- 
cretly feels that his subjects are not perfectly secure 
of their property. Thus, Sire, you perceive justice, 
security, respect for men, and a declaration of war 
against all tyranny, are indispensable conditions to 
every play of prosperity. 

When your subjects shall be at ease in this respect, 
entertain no apprehensions should gold seem to vanish ; 
it is but gone in search of gold, and to return with in- 
crease. Forget not. Sire, that the value of gold is lost, 
irretrievably, when it is not absolutely subjected to the 
will of trade, which alone is its monarch. By trade I 
here understand the general action of all productive 
industry, from the husbandman to the artist. 

What has been done in kingdoms where the security 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 391 

of the citizen is perfect, and where men have been con- 
vinced that gold never can be fixed, nor acquired in 
sufficient abundance for the supply of exchange ? Why, 
in such kingdoms, banks have been imagined, and bills 
have been brought into circulation, which, from the 
conviction that they may at any time be turned into 
specie, have become a kind of coin, which not being 
universal has been an internal substitute for gold, and 
induced men not to disturb themselves concerning its 
external circulation. 

Of such establishments you, Sire, should be ambi- 
tious. Happy the State in which the Sovereign, having 
habituated his subjects to the opinion of perfect inter- 
nal security, can cause sufficient sums to issue from his 
treasury for the establishment of such banks, to his 
own advantage. How many fiscal inventions, pro- 
duced by the spirit of pilfering, under the protection 
of ignorance and the laws, how many absurd and tyran- 
nical taxes might be annihilated, by gaining the interest 
of that money of which this confidential currency 
should be the representative ? And what tax ever could 
be more mild, more natural, more productive, or more 
agreeable to the Monarch, than the interest of money 
which he may gain by a currency which cost him 
nothing? Such a tax is cheerfully paid, for industry 
is the borrower; and, wherever industry finds its re- 
ward, each individual wishes to be industrious. 

The outline I have here traced, and which you. Sire, 
may strengthen by so many circumstances of which I 
am ignorant, and by so many others that would be 
too tedious to recapitulate at present, will naturally 
lead you — 

I. To the distribution of your immense domains 
among husbandmen, whom you will supply with the 
sums they want, and who will become real landholders, 
that shall pay a perpetual quitrent in kind, in order that 



392 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

your revenues may augment in proportion to the 
augmentation of wealth. 

2. To the due lowering (till such time as they may 
be wholly abolished) of indirect taxes, excise duties, 
customs, etc., the product of which will continually in- 
crease in an inverse ratio to the quantity of the duty 
and the vigor with which it is collected; for illicit 
trade, excited by too tempting lures, gains protectors 
among those by whom it ought to be repressed, and 
agents who had been appointed its opponents. Such 
disastrous taxes might likewise find substitutes in the 
natural and just increase of direct taxes; as on land, 
from which no estate ought to be free ; for land finally 
bears the whole burden of taxation, which burden is 
the heavier the more the means of laying it on are in- 
direct. How many disputes, shackles, inquisitions, and 
disorders would then vanish ! Plagues which are more 
odious, more oppressive, than the burden of the tax 
itself; and even more intolerable from the mode of as- 
sessment than from the value! That artificial vice 
which, before the last reign, was unknown in your 
kingdom, the vice of illicit trade, which makes deceit 
the basis of commerce, depraves the manners, and 
inspires a general contempt for the laws, then would 
disappear. To the regions of hell itself would then be 
banished the infernal power which your predecessor 
conferred on the administrators of excise duties and 
tolls, of arbitrarily increasing the penalties and punish- 
ments inflicted on smugglers. 

3. You will firmly and invariably determine on the 
system of favoring, by every possible means, the tran- 
sit TRADE, which must find new roads should foreign- 
ers longer be vexed ; or rather, has already found new 
roads. The impositions and minute examinations, 
which are occasioned by the manner of levying duties 
on this trade, and the fatal vigilance that has been 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 393 

employed not to suffer contraband goods to find en- 
trance at the fair of Frankfort on the Oder, has pro- 
duced this fatal effect, that the Poles, who formerly 
carried on a very considerable trade at Frankfort and 
at Breslau, at present totally avoid both places, and 
condemn themselves to a circuit of near a hundred 
German miles through a great part of Poland, Moravia, 
and Bohemia, that they may arrive at Leipsic; for 
which reason this last city, which is much less favor- 
ably situated than Frankfort on the Oder, where there 
is a great river, has within these fifteen years become 
flourishing; while the former, from the same cause, 
has fallen to decay; which decay continues increasing, 
and that at the very moment when the revolution 
in America threatens the North with so powerful a 
rivalship. Profit, Sire, by the last stage in which per- 
haps, the transit trade can be an object of any impor- 
tance. Favor it by taking off the chief of the duties 
which shackle it at present, and impart a confidence 
befitting of your candor and generous benevolence. 
How might you find a more fortunate moment in 
which to manifest such intentions than that wherein 
your neighbors are signalizing themselves by so many 
prohibitive frenzies? 

4. To you, Sire, is reserved the real and singular 
honor of abolishing monopolies, which are no less in- 
jurious to good sense than to equity; and which, in 
your kingdom, are so perpetual a source of hatred and 
malediction. The Prussian merchants, incited by the 
example of monopolizing companies (Nature, desirous 
of preserving the human race, ever causes evil itself 
to produce good), and, thanks to the excellent situa- 
tion of your States, have made some progress, in des- 
pite of every effort to stifle their industry, on the first 
ray of hope that monopolies should disappear; and 
these merchants will, by voluntary contributions, af- 



394 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

ford a substitute for a part of the deficiency which 
the new system may at first occasion in your revenues. 
5. You will, finally, arrive at the greatest of bene- 
fits, and at the most useful of speculations in politics 
and finance. You will set industry, arts, manufactures, 
and commerce free; commerce, which only can exist 
under the protection of freedom; commerce, which 
prefers no request to Kings except not to do it an in- 
jury. When you shall seriously have examined wheth- 
er those manufactures w^hich never can support a 
foreign rivalship deserve to be encouraged at an ex- 
pense so heavy, prohibitions will then presently van- 
ish from your States. The linens of Silesia never 
were otherwise favored than by exempting the weav- 
ers from military enrollment; and, of all the objects 
of Prussian trade, these linens are the most important. 
In none of your provinces are any manufactures to 
be found more flourishing than in that of Westphalia; 
namely, in the county of Marck; yet never has Gov- 
ernment done anything to encourage the industry of 
this province, except in not inflicting internal vexa- 
tions. I repeat, internal, for all the products of the 
industry of Prussian subjects, beyond the Weser, are 
accounted foreign and contraband, in all the other 
provinces; which odious and absurd iniquity you will 
not suffer to subsist. You will enfranchise all. Sire, 
and will grant no more exclusive privileges. Those 
who demand them are generally either knaves or fools ; 
and to acquiesce in their requests is the surest method 
of strangling industry. If such are found in England, 
it is because the form in which they are granted ren- 
ders them almost null. In Ireland they are no longer 
admitted. The Government and the Dublin Society 
afford support and give bounties, but on condition 
that no exclusive privilege is asked. The most mag- 
nificent, as well as the most certain, means of possess- 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 395 

Ing everything Nature bestows is freedom, Sire. It 
is the prodigality with which she bestows that attracts 
men, by moral feeling and physical good. All exclu- 
sive grants wound the first, and banish the second. 

I entreat. Sire, you would remark that I do not pro- 
pose you should suddenly, and incautiously, lop away 
all the parasite suckers which disfigure and enfeeble 
the royal stock which you were born to embellish and 
strengthen; but I likewise conjure you not to be im- 
peded by the fear of meeting your collectors with 
empty hands ; for this fear, being solely occupied con- 
cerning self, they will not fail to increase. The only 
man among them who really possesses an extensive 
knowledge of the general connections, of commerce, 
and from whom you may expect able services, when- 
ever your system shall invariably be directed to obtain 
other purposes than those to which his talents have 
hitherto been prostituted, StruEnsee, will confirm all 
my principles. He will indicate various means to 
Your Majesty, which may serve as substitutes to fiscal 
extortions. Thus, for instance, the commutation of 
duties, which is a new art, may, under the direction 
of a man so enlightened, greatly increase your rev- 
enues by lightening the public burden. 

England, formed to afford lessons to the whole 
earth, and to astonish the human mind by demonstrat- 
ing the infinite resources of credit, in support of which 
everything is made to concur — England has lately 
made a fine and fortunate experiment of this kind. 
She has commuted the duties on tea by a tax on win- 
dows, and the success is wonderful. Acquire a clear 
knowledge of this operation. Sire. It is preserved, 
with all the effects it has produced, in a work which 
will open vast prospects to your view. Your general- 
izing mind will take confidence in the industry of the 
honest man, and in the resources of his sensibility, 



396 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS OF 

aided by experience and talents ; though the misfortune 
of heavy taxes and the vicious mode of assessment 
should necessarily be prolonged. 

But, Sire, were you obliged to accept that heavy 
interest which Powers in debt are obliged to pay, as a 
substitute for duties that, though destructive, are not 
commutable, where would be the misfortune? What 
advantage might not result from treasures employed 
to obtain the payment of interest by which monarchies 
the most formidable are enfeebled? Wherefore not 
seize the means which they themselves furnish at their 
own expense, no longer to stand in awe of them? Do 
not you perceive, Sire, that you would thus without 
danger make them pay you tribute? For the govern- 
ments which might be mad enough to wish to rob their 
creditors would be unable, thanks to the general in- 
tercourse of trade. 

It remains to inquire to whom you would confide 
labors so difficult, yet so interesting. It is not for a 
stranger to estimate the worth of your subjects. Yet, 
Sire, is there one whose talents are esteemed in France 
and England, and him, therefore, I may venture to 
name. Baron Knyphausen is well acquainted with 
men and thmgs, in those countries in which he has 
served, and particularly with the system of the public 
funds. 

But more especially, Sire, summon the merchants. 
Among them are most commonly found probity and 
abilities. From them is derived the theory of order; 
and without order what can be accomplished? They 
are in general men of moderation, divested of pomp, 
and for that reason merit preference. Be persuaded, 
Sire, that the most enlightened, the most wise, and 
the most humane of mankind, would depart from you 
were their reward to consist in the vain decorations 
which titles bestow. These cannot be accepted with- 



BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 397 

out trampling on principles to which men are indebted 
for the glory of having merited reward; nor without 
paying with contempt the class they honor. The mer- 
chant who is worthy of your confidence will dread 
making himself guilty of such ingratitude toward his 
equals ; and this is one of the characteristics by which 
he will be distinguished. In the title of Lord Chatham 
the great Pitt expired; nor did the lord ever console 
himself for having acted thus traitorously toward his 
own glory. The services of the merchants you may 
employ, far from multiplying, must destroy the mon- 
strous inequalities which disorganize and deform your 
States. Thus will men like these find their reward, 
and not in silly titles, or the vain decorations of 
nobility. 

But, Sire, I have too long intruded upon the pre- 
cious moments in which the scepter has so lately been 
confided to your hands. What can I add which your 
own reflections, increased by facts that daily must fall 
under your notice, will not convey a thousand times 
more forcibly than any words of mine can? I have 
imagined it might not be wholly fruitless to awaken 
these ideas at the moment of a change so new, under 
a variety of afifairs so great, and a multitude of inter- 
ests and intrigues which must traverse and combat 
each other round your throne, and which may deprive 
you of that calm of mind that is necessary to abstract 
and to select. Should you in any degree be affected 
by my frankness, I dare hope it will not be unpleas- 
antly. Mediate, O Frederick! on this free, sincere, 
but respectful remonstrance, and deign to say: 

" Here I find what no man has informed me of, and 
perhaps the reverse of what I shall be daily told. 
The most courageous present truth to Kings under a 
veil; I here behold her naked. This is more worthy 
of me than the venal incense of rhymers, with which 



398 BERLIN AND ST. PETERSBURG 

I am suffocated; or academical panegyrics, which as- 
saulted me in the cradle, and scarcely will quit me in 
the coffin. I was a man before I was a King. Where- 
fore then take offense at being treated like a man ; or 
because a stranger, who asks nothing from me, and 
who soon will quit my Court, never to behold it more, 
speaks to me without disguise? He lays before me 
what inspection, experience, study, and understanding 
have collected. He gratis gives me that true and lib- 
eral advice of which no man stands so much in need 
as he who is devoted to the public good. Interest to 
deceive me he has none ; his intentions cannot be evil. 
Let me attentively examine what he has proposed ; for 
the simple good sense, the native candor of the man, 
whose only employment is the cultivation of reason 
and reflection, may well be of equal value with the old 
routine of habit, artifice, forms, diplomatic chimeras, 
add the ridiculous dogmas of those who are states- 
men by trade." 

May the eternal Disposer of human events watch 
over your welfare; may your days be beneficent and 
active; employed in those consolatory duties which 
elevate and fortify the soul ; and may you, till the ex- 
tremest old age, enjoy the pure felicity of having 
employed your whole faculties for the prosperity of 
the people for whose happiness you are responsible, 
for to you their happiness is intrusted! 



THE END 



WVJV 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper procej 
Neutralizing agent; Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: 
o . AUG 2001 

PreservationTechnologie 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATIC 

111 Thomson Parte Drive 



One copy del. to Cat. Div. 



